A Vacation From My Problems (A Sept. 2010 Trip Report) - COMPLETED 12/14 - Page 3 - The DIS Discussion Forums

Captain_Oblivious · 09-30-2010, 11:13 AM

4:45 a.m. is just inhuman, don't you think? No one should ever have to see that time staring back at them from the clock. But there it was, right on the nightstand. There'd better be an incredible reason for getting up that early.

Oh, yeah. We're going to Disney World!

We were taking a week during the school year (please, no flame-wars) and felt that flying down would maximize our time at WDW. Thankfully, we found a good rate on Southwest for flights out of Baltimore. Unfortunately, there's no quick-and-easy way to get from my house to Baltimore--the Chesapeake Bay is in the way. I don't own a hovercraft (yet), so we have to go around either to the north or the south.

My parents were coming with us on this trip, and in fact were a large reason as to why we were going. Currently, my kids are their only grandchildren, and they love spending time with them. So they were glad to help us make this trip affordable.

We drove down to their house in Dover on Friday night to shorten the drive to the airport a bit. Now it would be more of a straight shot across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

But still: we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. Ugh. Somehow, we managed to stumble out of bed and throw our clothes on (we had started our standard Disney practice of showering at night--saves time and I'm just wearing a baseball cap all day anyway in 90-degree Florida heat). Then, we woke up the kids at 5:00 a.m. Sarah and Big Dave got up fairly quickly, the excitement of going to Disney giving them an adrenalin boost. Scotty sat up in bed, looked around and took it all in. Then, he immediately flopped back onto his pillow, like a drunk way past last call. Hopefully my video footage wasn't too dark to capture this.

We all managed to stagger out into the van and get on the road. A quick stop at Wawa (greatest convenience store ever) to think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles on it for breakfast, and we were on our way.

The sun's first light hit as we drove on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, giving us a beautiful view of the water. This is a notorious commuter route for Baltimore, and my mother worried that we would hit too much rush hour traffic to make it to BWI on time.

Um...it's Saturday, Mom.

No problems with parking or security or luggage check-in (No bag fees on Southwest!

). Here's my two yutes checking out the plane:

The flight to Orlando was smooth, and Dave and I banged out most of his homework on the flight (as if we were going to do this at Disney World. I mean, come on). And by "Dave and I banged out his homework", I mean Dave did the work himself. No, really he did. I just tried to keep him from distracting himself with his DS. By the time we'd finished calculating the average air speed of an African swallow, the plane was landing in Orlando.

The Magical Express lines were pretty crowded--much more than our last trip in September 2006. I began to get worried--it appeared the word about Free Dining and low crowds in September was out. We might actually have to wait in lines for rides on this trip!

By lunchtime, we were checking into our resort, Port Orleans Riverside. We'd stayed here in the mansions section in 2006 and had fallen in love with the place. We were trying out the Alligator Bayou section this time, since we had 5 people in the room and needed the trundle bed. As I waited in the check-in line, I began to relax. I hadn't entered any part of the parks yet, but somehow it was as though the Disney magic was somehow subtly influencing my mood...

I had done the online check-in, figuring it would move the process faster at the lobby. My father and I confidently strode into the line for online check-in. At the same time, a bald gentleman stepped into the regular line. They had two people working the online group and 4 working the regular group. The bald guy got checked in first.

Check-in was followed by our first free counter-service meal on the dining plan--lunch at the Riverside Mill. One of the better food courts at WDW, in my opinion. Nice variety on the menu.

The room was ready for us, and we dropped off our carry-on bags. We fell in love with Alligator Bayou right away. The area is themed to feel like cabins in a swampy bayou, with a very rustic feel. The landscaping is beautiful. It's sort of a poor man's Wilderness Lodge (which, as some of you know, is my absolute favorite resort on property). Here is our room. Note the rough-hewn wood furniture and lantern-style lighting. Disney is without peer in giving a sense of place.

Next stop: Downtown Disney! One of the best perks of POR is the boat ride to DTD that it offers. We got in line (again, more people than I expected) and waited in the heat. After 10 minutes or so, a boat pulled up to the dock. He then informed us he could only take 25 people--and we just missed the cutoff.

Next boat: 20 minutes.

Coming Up Next: It's like Build-a-Bear, but with cars! And it costs HOW MUCH??!!

Captain_Oblivious · 09-30-2010, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trennr

Does that count??? Spaceballs!!!

Sure, why not? I'm in a good mood today.

+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by loritemp

OOOOOOOHHHHHH count me in! Gotta love someone else who knows the suffering of the Eagles legion!!

I love movie and TV quotes but I am always so late to catching up on TR, think I will miss most of them.

Looking forward to hearing all about the trip!!

Eagles fans are always welcome here! We need a place to share in our suffering.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I was so close and didn't even know it!

See how I did that, there?

MissLiz · 09-30-2010, 11:19 AM

"the two yutes" -- My Cousin Vinny

calculating the average air speed of an African swallow -- Mony Python and the Holy Grail?

Sorry, I have to finish reading your update....I just wanted the points.

MissLiz · 09-30-2010, 11:23 AM

Okay, finished.

Great start! I would like to say that at about 4:45 on 9/18, I'm pretty sure I had just rolled over in my bed at Contemporary and looked toward the Magic Kingdom to make sure the castle was still there.

We stayed there Friday, 9/17 before we moved to Poly and I want to go back immediately! I think I woke up about 5 times during the night just to look out the window.

We've thought about staying at POR before, but we've never done it. It looks very nice.

sara98629 · 09-30-2010, 11:35 AM

Can feel your pain about the Eagles... we have the Seahawks. (although they do look promising this year?? We'll see!

) But adding insult to injury, I am Washington State University Cougar... having only won 3 games in 3 years... sigh! But hey... you gotta love the Crimson and Gray!

Anyway... I'm looking forward to reading of your family's adventures!!

Emma's Dad · 09-30-2010, 11:47 AM

I have to agree with you about Riverside Mill

We made it there this last trip and even my DW said she'd consider a stay here. Then she found out they don't have queen beds

Still... I very much enjoy that resort and can't wait to hear more about it.

sara98629 · 09-30-2010, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

.

OHHHH!! I just adore the stuffed animals on the bed! My kids used to take theirs too!

Some of my favorite pictures from Disneyland are with them walking in front of me, their stuffed animals looking out of their backpacks!

mickeystoontown · 09-30-2010, 12:13 PM

Joining in for the fun.

Emma's Dad · 09-30-2010, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sara98629

OHHHH!! I just adore the stuffed animals on the bed! My kids used to take theirs too!

Some of my favorite pictures from Disneyland are with them walking in front of me, their stuffed animals looking out of their backpacks!

You mean like this.... LOL

Rental01 · 09-30-2010, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

I'm just wearing a baseball cap all day anyway in 90-degree Florida heat

Oh, the horrible images this conjures up!

Great report so far. +1 on the Grail quote in your 2nd post. I'm looking forward to the rest!

Captain_Oblivious · 09-30-2010, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissLiz

"the two yutes" -- My Cousin Vinny

calculating the average air speed of an African swallow -- Mony Python and the Holy Grail?

Sorry, I have to finish reading your update....I just wanted the points.

+2

Nice work! Still one more out there...

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissLiz

Okay, finished.

Great start! I would like to say that at about 4:45 on 9/18, I'm pretty sure I had just rolled over in my bed at Contemporary and looked toward the Magic Kingdom to make sure the castle was still there.

We stayed there Friday, 9/17 before we moved to Poly and I want to go back immediately! I think I woke up about 5 times during the night just to look out the window.

We've thought about staying at POR before, but we've never done it. It looks very nice.

Man, that Contemporary view sounds awesome. Love the Polynesian, too. But if you're trying to save money, POR is wonderful. I haven't tried the other moderates yet, but I'm not really sure I want to. The theming/amenities/DTD boat and landscaping really make POR special.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sara98629

Can feel your pain about the Eagles... we have the Seahawks. (although they do look promising this year?? We'll see!

) But adding insult to injury, I am Washington State University Cougar... having only won 3 games in 3 years... sigh! But hey... you gotta love the Crimson and Gray!

Anyway... I'm looking forward to reading of your family's adventures!!

We used to be neck-and-neck with Seattle and Cleveland in the Cursed Sports City department until the Phillies finally won in 2008. So is it worse to have a team that is awful and never competes, or a team that gets close but never over the hump every year?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma's Dad

I have to agree with you about Riverside Mill

We made it there this last trip and even my DW said she'd consider a stay here. Then she found out they don't have queen beds

Still... I very much enjoy that resort and can't wait to hear more about it.

I think we were so exhausted from walking around that we never even noticed the size of the bed...we just collapsed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sara98629

OHHHH!! I just adore the stuffed animals on the bed! My kids used to take theirs too!

Some of my favorite pictures from Disneyland are with them walking in front of me, their stuffed animals looking out of their backpacks!

Those were actually arranged by the maid in that position everyday. The kids always enjoyed seeing what she was going to do to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeystoontown

Joining in for the fun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emma's Dad

You mean like this.... LOL

That's a good look, Don!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rental01

Oh, the horrible images this conjures up!

Great report so far. +1 on the Grail quote in your 2nd post. I'm looking forward to the rest!

The heat, or me in a baseball cap? I ain't too pretty without the cap either, you know.

MissLiz · 09-30-2010, 01:16 PM

We've stayed at Caribbean Beach a couple of times and love it. We did a huge splurge this trip because we were taking DH's 80-year-old grandma with us and we figure the monorail would be easier with the wheelchair than the bus.

I like the location of POR...it seems pretty near everything.

Now, off to find the last quote.

rentayenta · 09-30-2010, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Oblivious

See how I did that, there?

I may have to up my Fonzie cool level to hang in this report.

trennr · 09-30-2010, 02:31 PM

"think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles "

TLJ form the Fugitive.

Captain_Oblivious · 09-30-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissLiz

We've stayed at Caribbean Beach a couple of times and love it. We did a huge splurge this trip because we were taking DH's 80-year-old grandma with us and we figure the monorail would be easier with the wheelchair than the bus.

I like the location of POR...it seems pretty near everything.

Now, off to find the last quote.

Nothing wrong with splurging every once in a while...we did it to stay at the WL for a couple nights last year. And with the wheelchair it makes a lot more sense. The moderates are massive properties--I can't imagine trying to wheel anyone around there!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rentayenta

I may have to up my Fonzie cool level to hang in this report.

Replace "Fonzie cool" with "geeky dork" and you'll fit right in with me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by trennr

"think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles "

TLJ form the Fugitive.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

+1

Current standings after 2 entries:

MissLiz 2
Trennr 2
FreezinRafiki 1
Melk 1

09-30-2010, 11:13 AM	#31
Captain_Oblivious DIS Dad #257 Don't underestimate your audience. I'm sure there's a fart joke in here somewhere Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Delaware Posts: 6,189	Day 1: Departing for Disney (Sept. 18, 2010) 4:45 a.m. is just inhuman, don't you think? No one should ever have to see that time staring back at them from the clock. But there it was, right on the nightstand. There'd better be an incredible reason for getting up that early. Oh, yeah. We're going to Disney World! We were taking a week during the school year (please, no flame-wars) and felt that flying down would maximize our time at WDW. Thankfully, we found a good rate on Southwest for flights out of Baltimore. Unfortunately, there's no quick-and-easy way to get from my house to Baltimore--the Chesapeake Bay is in the way. I don't own a hovercraft (yet), so we have to go around either to the north or the south. My parents were coming with us on this trip, and in fact were a large reason as to why we were going. Currently, my kids are their only grandchildren, and they love spending time with them. So they were glad to help us make this trip affordable. We drove down to their house in Dover on Friday night to shorten the drive to the airport a bit. Now it would be more of a straight shot across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. But still: we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. Ugh. Somehow, we managed to stumble out of bed and throw our clothes on (we had started our standard Disney practice of showering at night--saves time and I'm just wearing a baseball cap all day anyway in 90-degree Florida heat). Then, we woke up the kids at 5:00 a.m. Sarah and Big Dave got up fairly quickly, the excitement of going to Disney giving them an adrenalin boost. Scotty sat up in bed, looked around and took it all in. Then, he immediately flopped back onto his pillow, like a drunk way past last call. Hopefully my video footage wasn't too dark to capture this. We all managed to stagger out into the van and get on the road. A quick stop at Wawa (greatest convenience store ever) to think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles on it for breakfast, and we were on our way. The sun's first light hit as we drove on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, giving us a beautiful view of the water. This is a notorious commuter route for Baltimore, and my mother worried that we would hit too much rush hour traffic to make it to BWI on time. Um...it's Saturday, Mom. No problems with parking or security or luggage check-in (No bag fees on Southwest! ). Here's my two yutes checking out the plane: The flight to Orlando was smooth, and Dave and I banged out most of his homework on the flight (as if we were going to do this at Disney World. I mean, come on). And by "Dave and I banged out his homework", I mean Dave did the work himself. No, really he did. I just tried to keep him from distracting himself with his DS. By the time we'd finished calculating the average air speed of an African swallow, the plane was landing in Orlando. The Magical Express lines were pretty crowded--much more than our last trip in September 2006. I began to get worried--it appeared the word about Free Dining and low crowds in September was out. We might actually have to wait in lines for rides on this trip! By lunchtime, we were checking into our resort, Port Orleans Riverside. We'd stayed here in the mansions section in 2006 and had fallen in love with the place. We were trying out the Alligator Bayou section this time, since we had 5 people in the room and needed the trundle bed. As I waited in the check-in line, I began to relax. I hadn't entered any part of the parks yet, but somehow it was as though the Disney magic was somehow subtly influencing my mood... I had done the online check-in, figuring it would move the process faster at the lobby. My father and I confidently strode into the line for online check-in. At the same time, a bald gentleman stepped into the regular line. They had two people working the online group and 4 working the regular group. The bald guy got checked in first. Check-in was followed by our first free counter-service meal on the dining plan--lunch at the Riverside Mill. One of the better food courts at WDW, in my opinion. Nice variety on the menu. The room was ready for us, and we dropped off our carry-on bags. We fell in love with Alligator Bayou right away. The area is themed to feel like cabins in a swampy bayou, with a very rustic feel. The landscaping is beautiful. It's sort of a poor man's Wilderness Lodge (which, as some of you know, is my absolute favorite resort on property). Here is our room. Note the rough-hewn wood furniture and lantern-style lighting. Disney is without peer in giving a sense of place. Next stop: Downtown Disney! One of the best perks of POR is the boat ride to DTD that it offers. We got in line (again, more people than I expected) and waited in the heat. After 10 minutes or so, a boat pulled up to the dock. He then informed us he could only take 25 people--and we just missed the cutoff. Next boat: 20 minutes. Coming Up Next: It's like Build-a-Bear, but with cars! And it costs HOW MUCH??!! __________________ Me (Mark) DW (Mrs. Knowitall) DD11 DS9 DS7 DIS Dads Club Member #257 Operation Big Thunder: The Dole Whip Conspiracy Rust Belt Road Trip 2011 A Vacation From My Problems (A Sept. 2010 Trip Report) COMPLETED 12/14 Non-Disney Southern Road Trip Report COMPLETE at the DIS Dads webpage COMPLETED TRIP REPORT: Voyage of the Delawareans: November 8-12 4-Night Cruise

09-30-2010, 11:19 AM	#33
MissLiz DIS Veteran Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,434	"the two yutes" -- My Cousin Vinny calculating the average air speed of an African swallow -- Mony Python and the Holy Grail? Sorry, I have to finish reading your update....I just wanted the points. __________________

09-30-2010, 11:23 AM	#34
MissLiz DIS Veteran Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,434	Okay, finished. Great start! I would like to say that at about 4:45 on 9/18, I'm pretty sure I had just rolled over in my bed at Contemporary and looked toward the Magic Kingdom to make sure the castle was still there. We stayed there Friday, 9/17 before we moved to Poly and I want to go back immediately! I think I woke up about 5 times during the night just to look out the window. We've thought about staying at POR before, but we've never done it. It looks very nice. __________________

09-30-2010, 11:35 AM	#35
sara98629 Earning My Ears Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: La Center, WA Posts: 37	Can feel your pain about the Eagles... we have the Seahawks. (although they do look promising this year?? We'll see! ) But adding insult to injury, I am Washington State University Cougar... having only won 3 games in 3 years... sigh! But hey... you gotta love the Crimson and Gray! Anyway... I'm looking forward to reading of your family's adventures!! __________________ Sara, almost 44 DH Julio, almost 46 DD Katie, almost 18 DS Evan, almost 15

09-30-2010, 11:47 AM	#36
Emma's Dad DIS Dad's Club Member SOMEONE thinks I know SOMETHING! Get your zombie ammunition NOW! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 4,034	I have to agree with you about Riverside Mill We made it there this last trip and even my DW said she'd consider a stay here. Then she found out they don't have queen beds Still... I very much enjoy that resort and can't wait to hear more about it. __________________ DIS Dads Club Member #115 4/08 - POP, 4/09 - CSR, 4/10 - CSR, 4/11 - BWV "If only Tinker Bell was related to the tooth fairy... where is my Disney magic??" - 2010 TR "What's Your Problem?" Caught by loop and hook... (My first TR)

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The DIS Register to remove Join Date: 1997 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 1,000,000

09-30-2010, 12:13 PM	#38
mickeystoontown DIS Veteran Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Bayou Country, La. Posts: 21,964	Joining in for the fun. __________________ 2013 trip report: 1 crazy family+2 resorts+5 parks+1 snake+1 surprise= A Mickeystoontown Report: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3122381

09-30-2010, 01:16 PM	#42
MissLiz DIS Veteran Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,434	We've stayed at Caribbean Beach a couple of times and love it. We did a huge splurge this trip because we were taking DH's 80-year-old grandma with us and we figure the monorail would be easier with the wheelchair than the bus. I like the location of POR...it seems pretty near everything. Now, off to find the last quote. __________________

09-30-2010, 02:31 PM	#44
trennr DISDad #104 Oh, thee of little faith Nate.... Join Date: May 2006 Location: Jonesborough, TN Posts: 3,886	"think me up a chocolate donut with some of those little sprinkles " TLJ form the Fugitive. __________________ DISDADS Club Member #104 My First Cruise Trip Report... Last edited by trennr; 09-30-2010 at 02:46 PM.

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