I can't believe he said yes! We conquered June! the end...9.10.10

[TinksThree]

Whew! What a week! After a lot of planning and dreaming about this trip, it flew by like a flash. And in some ways things did not go as planned...but do they ever?? And there were a few surprises along the way that meant me ( an OCD planner) had to do some major adapting!

If you would like to read my PTR here is the link:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2437624

Let me introduce (or re-introduce) my family!

Me (Tisa): I love Disney and traveling in general! I practically drive my family crazy! Thankfully I have children who appreciate Disney as well!!

DH (Keith): Although he has never really been to Disney, he is a "Disney Hater" and surprised us all by even suggesting this trip. As I had stated in my PTR, he was still high from a New Orleans Saints Super Bowl win! I did not care...I jumped on the chance to go back!!

DS (Chris): Chris is 16 and went to Disney for the 1st time in March 2009.

DD (Madison): Madison is 14 and this was her 3rd trip. She is still all about the princesses.

Here is a picture of the four of us together (sorry...not a Disney picture). All of my family pictures are on Photopass which I do not have yet.


When did we go on this adventure?? June 5-10 at Disney and 10th -12th in St. Augustine, FL.

Which resort?? After much thought we decided to call POR home!!

I have lots of pictures...but I challenged myself not to take as many as I usually do! Keith is always saying "We already have 20 pictures of that" but I don't have a picture of it from this trip!!

So let's get this party started!!!

The Friday before we left it seemed everything went wrong! It was quiet distressing. I had work to wrap up, a windshield to get repaired, and lots of packing left along with other minor bumps in the road! I was so spastic when I left work that I kept having to tell myself to relax...I was about to be at Disney World!!

Well, Saturday (June 5) did not seem to be any better! We were going to leave at 4am. I figured this would give us time to get to the resort, check-in and explore some before heading to DTD and our 7:35pm reservations at T-Rex. Well we did not leave until 4:50am and the 11 hour trip took 13 1/2 hours thanks to a lot of procrastinating on DH's part! Thankfully traffic and the weather were on our side...McDonald's in Lamont, Florida, however, was NOT on our side!! Evidentally they never got the memo explaining what the "fast" in fast food meant!!

So, how did Saturday actually turn out?? Did we make T-Rex?? I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out!!

[SimmerBaggins]

Yay, Tink -- I completely understand what you mean about it flying by!! I will say we were all pretty tired by the end...can't wait to hear more!!

[TinksThree]

Originally Posted by SimmerBaggins

Yay, Tink -- I completely understand what you mean about it flying by!! I will say we were all pretty tired by the end...can't wait to hear more!!

We were tired too. It was so hot, but breaks really helped! I was glad it wasn't as humid as it is here...it was humid but it was so much worse here last week!

I had a whole thing written and the Photobucket did soemthing weird and shut my internet down ...So now I must begin again! An update will hopefully be soon!!

[TinksThree]

I gave a little background on Saturday’s events but now I will elaborate! As I said, we did not start off great! Plus, I apologize for the picture sizes! I am having issues with Photobucket and I have typed this twice...I will get them smaller next time..I hope!

Plan: Leave around 4am. Get to resort around 4:30pm and have a little bit of time to explore. Head to DTD and get to T-Rex 15 minutes prior to our 7:35pm reservations.

What actually happened: We left around 4:50am. We woke to rain and had to load the car in the wet stuff. I wasn’t able to gas up the night before due to the windshield incident…oh yeah!! Remember I mentioned we had the windshield replaced on Friday afternoon? Well, Friday night we noticed wind noise…LOTS of wind noise. Very loud wind noise. It turns out that they failed to seal the bottom driver’s side. The man came to our house and at 9:30pm was working on correcting this problem. Thankfully that was all taken care of because it would have driven us crazy!!

Anyway back to Saturday!! So with many stops and breaks the 11 hour drive took us 13 ½ hours!! McDonald’s did not help matters for lunch either! Thankfully the weather and traffic did cooperate! So my plan to arrive around 4:30 became an actual arrival of 6pm!! Oh well, that just means that we would have no time to relax before heading to DTD.

This was a very welcome sight!!!



I had not been able to get DH into any discussions on our plans. He kept saying just tell him where to go and when. I knew he thought we would be staying at a “typical” hotel. I think he was slightly impressed when we arrived at Port Orleans Riverside!! As for me, I had debated greatly about which resort to book and had reluctantly chosen POR due to the great reviews. Well, I LOVED it!! It was so great!! Sarah checked us in and she was fantastic! We were in and out of registration within 10 minutes.

I had requested either Magnolia Bend or Oak Manor in the Mansion section. We got Acadian House…but it was a good location. It wasn’t that much further of a walk and it was so peaceful and quiet. We never heard any noise outside the room. It was great!! Here are some pictures of the room:




The decor was fine...fit the theming perfectly. I wouldn't want it in my home, but for POR it was perfect!! I also really liked the privacy curtain...so much better than just an opening like at ASSports.

So after getting settled in the room and freshening up we headed to the boat to go to DTD. We got to the dock about 6:45pm (remember, our reservations were at 7:35!). Along the way I snapped a few photographs of the resort.



When we got to the marina, the line was so long!! We stood there for about 5 minutes. Waiting for the boat line to shrink:




Then we decided maybe we should try the bus…our first experience with the POR bus system and now we know why it gets the bad reviews!! Had we known all of this, we would have just driven ourselves!! We waited about 30 minutes for a bus…then we had had 3 more bus stops and POFQ before actually heading to DTD. We got on the bus at 7:20pm-ish and I watched the time quickly tick by.

[TinksThree]

We got to DTD at 7:45pm…10 minutes after our reservations. And I had thought 7:35pm would be a very doable reservation!! We made our way through a very, very crowded DTD area and made it to T-Rex at 7:55pm. I went to the “expedition rock” and prepared to grovel since my kids had their hearts set on this restaurant! It was not necessary! They were so nice, gave us our ticket and within 5 minutes we were at a table!! Pixie Dust!!!

We were in the jungle room. It doesn’t seem quite so loud in that section. (Except during the meteor shower) Various pictures around T-Rex:




This guy was next to our table:

A few random shots around the restaurant:






Our waitress was so sweet and efficient. She was a talker! Very friendly!! Last year we just got the Supersaurus Sampler with the ribs but this year we went with an actual meal. I got the Omnivore’s Delight salad which was huge and delicious!! Madison got the Footprints Flatbread (very yummy) and Chris got the Colosso Nachos (massive!!). Keith got the Fish and Chips…he said they were good but nothing to write home about. I took some pictures of food, but not this time!

So after we ate, we had planned to go to Ghiradelli’s but 1) we were way too full and 2) we were tired. It was a little after 9pm and our day had been very long!! We decided to go back via the boat. It was a short wait and we wish this was an option to get to everywhere!! It was so nice! This was one of the things that sold me on POR originally and it did not disappoint!!

Saratoga Springs at night...looking from the boat dock:


We did go to World of Disney briefly while Madison got an autograph book for a friend. But that was our only diversion.

A picture of Sassagoula Steamboat when we returned.


Sunday was an early start...ADR at Tusker House at 8am! What will the day hold? Can we get our act together?? Only time will tell if we can hold all the plans together!!

[jc040404]

Love the T-Rex pics! When my post WDW depression gets to be too much, I'm planning a park free visit to hit some of the things we always miss. This is on the list and I've never actually seen any pics from inside before. My son will be absolutely thrilled!


Signing on to see more!!

[Goofy442]

I had to give up on our schedule, we would be packed and ready to go and something always goes wrong or we have forgotten something. Love your pictures of T-Rex restaurant, it is on our to-do list for next time.

[TinksThree]

Originally Posted by jc040404

Love the T-Rex pics! When my post WDW depression gets to be too much, I'm planning a park free visit to hit some of the things we always miss. This is on the list and I've never actually seen any pics from inside before. My son will be absolutely thrilled!


Signing on to see more!!

Welcome!! We really love T-Rex!! It is very loud but so cool...especially when the meteor showers occur! I wish we lived close enough to have non-park post-WDW depression trips!!

Originally Posted by Goofy442

I had to give up on our schedule, we would be packed and ready to go and something always goes wrong or we have forgotten something. Love your pictures of T-Rex restaurant, it is on our to-do list for next time.

Hi!! Thanks for posting!! I am a planner to the inth degree...I had to learn to chunk a good deal this trip. It was a challenge sometimes!! At least holding my tongue was when it just wasn't working out!! I hope you make it to T-Rex...it is a lot of fun!!

[TinksThree]

I made one video at T-Rex of the meteor shower. It gets dark in the restaurant so some of it is dark but overall you get the idea!



And, sorry for the accents, we are from the south!!

[SurfinTX]

Wow! We were at T-Rex the same time as you were. Our reservations were for 7:30 and we got out of there around 9:00. We stayed offsite on Sat. our arrival day and figured that DTD would be perfect for an evening warmup.

I can't wait to see more from someone who was at Disney the same time as us!

[jmskinner]

Hi! Your following my BFF's TR, Vickie (SimmerBaggins) and I noticed you stayed at POR in your sig and thought I would come checkout your TR. POR is our favorite resort. Will be there in just a few weeks, it will be our 4th time to visit. Glad you liked it. We love the boat ride also. Actually, just a few weeks ago, met up with some of my Dis friends at SSR, rode the boat to POR and just hung out in the food court talking and having a milk shake. Had a great time. You got some great shots of the resort.

Sorry about the windshield repair, but that is fantastic that the guy came back so late, and on a Friday night.

Love your pics of T-Rex, we have got to go there sometime. Ok, looking forward to reading more.

[amyrella]

i'm in cant wait to read more! i've stayed at POR a few times and i love it!!

[SimmerBaggins]

Yay -- I LOVE the video!! I need to post a few videos on my TR, sometime. It just really brings back the feeling of being there, doesn't it? And, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I've been wanting to try T-Rex, too, so I appreciate the pictures/video and food info!

[__disneygirl]

Awesome TR! Love pics of T Rex! We looove Rainforest Cafe, so we really wanna try and eat at T Rex soon!

The same thing always happens to us with Ghiradelli.. always way too full to enjoy one of those huge amazing special sundaes they have! I didn't even get anything there on our April trip. Next trip I am planning it so we will actually be hungry for it!

[TinksThree]

Originally Posted by SurfinTX

Wow! We were at T-Rex the same time as you were. Our reservations were for 7:30 and we got out of there around 9:00. We stayed offsite on Sat. our arrival day and figured that DTD would be perfect for an evening warmup.

I can't wait to see more from someone who was at Disney the same time as us!

Welcome!! That is really cool that we were there at the same time! We probably passed...it was so busy that night! My kids have come to expect our Disney vacation to begin at DTD and T-Rex!!

Originally Posted by jmskinner

Hi! Your following my BFF's TR, Vickie (SimmerBaggins) and I noticed you stayed at POR in your sig and thought I would come checkout your TR. POR is our favorite resort. Will be there in just a few weeks, it will be our 4th time to visit. Glad you liked it. We love the boat ride also. Actually, just a few weeks ago, met up with some of my Dis friends at SSR, rode the boat to POR and just hung out in the food court talking and having a milk shake. Had a great time. You got some great shots of the resort.

Sorry about the windshield repair, but that is fantastic that the guy came back so late, and on a Friday night.

Love your pics of T-Rex, we have got to go there sometime. Ok, looking forward to reading more.

Hi!! Thanks for coming over!! I "know" you!! I have really enjoyed SimmerBaggins report!! Envy at you getting to POR again in a few weeks!! I really hit a home run where DH was concerned on that one! I was (humbly) proud of my choice!! He liked it for all of the reasons I thought he would!!

We felt very lucky and blessed that the windshield guy would do that on a Friday night! Especially since this was a stranger and not someone we knew doing us a favor! He earned brownie points for the company, for sure!!

You do need to try T-Rex sometime! Lots of fun!!

Originally Posted by amyrella

i'm in cant wait to read more! i've stayed at POR a few times and i love it!!

Welcome!! Thanks for coming along!! It is a great resort!

Originally Posted by SimmerBaggins

Yay -- I LOVE the video!! I need to post a few videos on my TR, sometime. It just really brings back the feeling of being there, doesn't it? And, I hate to sound like a broken record, but I've been wanting to try T-Rex, too, so I appreciate the pictures/video and food info!

It does bring back the sights and sounds...good memories. Sometimes I wish for the smells also!! I really like having the shows...great relaxer at times!!

Glad you enjoyed the video and pictures!! It is such a fun restaurant!!

Originally Posted by __disneygirl

Awesome TR! Love pics of T Rex! We looove Rainforest Cafe, so we really wanna try and eat at T Rex soon!

The same thing always happens to us with Ghiradelli.. always way too full to enjoy one of those huge amazing special sundaes they have! I didn't even get anything there on our April trip. Next trip I am planning it so we will actually be hungry for it!

Thank you and welcome!!

I like Rainforest Cafe's menu a little better but they are both really great places!! Our waitress asked us if we wanted dessert and when we declined she said we had better not tell her wee were going to Ghiradelli's! Our looks around the table gave us away and she reprimanded us!! All in fun, she was really great! And then we were too full (and tired) to even think about stopping by there!!