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

TinksThree

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
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?? :confused3 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" :scared1: 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.
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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!! :laughing:

So let's get this party started!!! :woohoo:

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 :sad2: and the 11 hour trip took 13 1/2 hours :headache: 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!! :rotfl2:

So, how did Saturday actually turn out?? Did we make T-Rex?? I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out!! :thumbsup2
 
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!!

:cool1:
 
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!!

:cool1:

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 :mad: ...So now I must begin again! An update will hopefully be soon!! :yay:
 
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. :confused3 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!! :headache: 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!! :sad2: Oh well, that just means that we would have no time to relax before heading to DTD.

This was a very welcome sight!!!

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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!! :banana: 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!! :lovestruc 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:

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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.

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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:

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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. :eek: We got on the bus at 7:20pm-ish and I watched the time quickly tick by.
 


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 :worship: 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!!! pixiedust:

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:
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This guy was next to our table:
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A few random shots around the restaurant:

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


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!! :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!!

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!! :wave2: 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!!
 
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!! :rotfl2:
 
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!
 
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.
 
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!
:cool1:
 
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! :thumbsup2
 
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!! :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!!

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!! :yay: Thanks for coming over!! I "know" you!! ;) I have really enjoyed SimmerBaggins report!! Envy at you getting to POR again in a few weeks!! :p 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!!


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!! :welcome: It is a great resort!

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!
:cool1:

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

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


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! :thumbsup2

Thank you and welcome!! :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!! :lmao: All in fun, she was really great! And then we were too full (and tired) to even think about stopping by there!! :sad2:
 
I love your TR so far!! What a bumpy start to your trip but glad you made it in time for your ADR. Is T-Rex on the dining plan? I would like to have lunch or dinner there and we will be on the DDP but may pay OOP for a lunch maybe. Do you think my DGS would be scared? He will be 3 by then.

BTW loved your pics of your family - you all look so happy to finally be there!
 
I love your TR so far!! What a bumpy start to your trip but glad you made it in time for your ADR. Is T-Rex on the dining plan? I would like to have lunch or dinner there and we will be on the DDP but may pay OOP for a lunch maybe. Do you think my DGS would be scared? He will be 3 by then.

BTW loved your pics of your family - you all look so happy to finally be there!

Thank you so much!! I am glad you are enjoying it so far! I am glad you decided to stop by!! :banana:

It does get a little loud and dark when the meteor shower happens (which is what my video is of). But there are tons of little kids around 3 years old in there and I did not see any get upset. The dinosaurs move around but I think as long as the table isn't right next to the dinosaurs, there probably isn't a big issue. We were not on the DDP this time but we were asked if we had it or not so I would say yes but not 100% sure. Last year it was not an option to use our DDP.

We were so happy to be there! We were hoping to show DH what a magical place Disney is!!
 
I have to subscribe to this just to see if DH turns into "one of us"!!!!
Scary, isn't it????:scared1:

Hello and Welcome!!! So glad you are joining me!!

I think I scare him regarding how much I love :lovestruc Disney and how I have pulled the kids into it! I worked really hard and put a whole lot of effort into planning this trip to semi-revolve around him so hopefully I could show him the magic. I think that was one reason all of the hiccups we have had so far were so disheartening.

Stay tuned! I hope to have an update on Day 1 (well Park Day 1) this evening!!
 
Sunday, June 6, 2010

Our first order of business for Sunday morning was the Donald Safari Breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom!!! :banana:

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The Plan:

We had 8 am reservations and the plan was arrive at DAK around 7:30am since we had to activate our Military Salute tickets. This should take around 10 minutes and then we would head into the park and Tusker House. After breakfast, it should be close to rope drop at 9am. We would jump in line at Kilimanjaro Safari and ride. Then we would head to Expedition Everest, grab Fast Passes and ride stand-by. This is one of my favorite rides so I was hoping to also get a FP later as well. :yay:

What actually happened??

Background for anyone who has not read my PTR: DH has always proclaimed to hate Disney World even though he has not really been before. :confused3 He doesn’t like amusement parks because of 1.) crowds, 2) lines, and 3) heat. I had all 3 going against me on this trip but this was his idea! The kids and I had planned a trip to South Dakota and he changed those plans to Disney…but I digress. This is also why he procrastinated the day before and also on Sunday morning!!

So the kids (who are teens and by natural law should not be up and ready at 7am) are ready to go, but guess who delays us?? You got it Keith! Well, sort of…the buses also did not help matters. But at least today wasn’t so bad. We waited about 15 minutes for the DAK bus. That isn't really too bad of a wait! But at this point we are not going to make the 7:30am goal! :guilty:

We get to DAK and I do a very fast walk to the ticket window to activate the tickets. Of course the Cast Member is in training so it takes about 15-20 minutes to get this taken care of. Now I am not complaining about her…we all have to learn at some point. It just wasn’t working in my favor!! We get into the park at 8:05 so once again we are late for our reservations. I foresee a very bad pattern forming. :sad2: Usually it is me causing us to run late, or at least right on time. Keith was in the military and always is early…until now!!

We make it to Tusker House and checked in at 8:15. So I now know that my touring plan may have to be adjusted. :headache: Ugh…I am getting frustrated but I do not want to be the one who loses it 1st on this trip!! Our motto for the week was "We are at the happiest place on earth...so get happy!!" :rotfl: So I am determined not to be the one to lose it!! My biggest concern isn’t the Kilimanjaro Safari….I really want to ride Expedition Everest!!! And more than once!!

We sit down at the little patio area and wait for the buzzer to go off. It takes about 10 minutes and then we are off to eat!! Then I pull my first bit of trickery out…I tell Keith we have to go in this line over here (aka the picture with Donald line)! I know this is the only place we will be able to see Donald at the breakfast so I have to get this done! Donald is my reason for coming…well one of them, Daisy is the other!! Keith rolls his eyes, proclaims a possible D-I-V-O-R-C-E and then smiles for the picture!! See that wasn’t so bad huh?? DH even managed a slight smile! Here we are!!:

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We then head inside and are seated. I really liked Tusker House. One of the things I like about DAK is the details. The Imagineers did an awesome job with this park and Tusker House is no exception.

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Food wise: I liked it and the others were okay with it. They complained about the bacon and I have to admit that it had no flavor. I tried some of the “non-typical” food like the mealie pop and quiches. To me that was what made the meal and not the basic eggs and bacon.

This was my plate:

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No one really liked the pastries. They weren’t the greatest. The sliced ham was pretty good though. I also got fruit and it was good. What we all loved :lovestruc was the jungle juice…that was very yummy!!! I took a few pictures while there and of course there was Mickey, Daisy and Goofy!!

The Kids with Mickey:

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And The Big Cheese Himself!!

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Madison is patiently waiting for the next character to come by!! Who will it be??

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Daisy followed shortly afterwards!!

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Daisy struck a pose for the camera!!

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Goofy ended our Character breakfast!!

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He is so....well, goofy!! :rotfl2:

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Overall, this is one I will do again. Maybe not every time since everyone did not care for the food, but we will return!!
We finished eating at 9:15 and headed to Kilimanjaro Safari. We aren't too far off the plan, but I am still concerned about those FPs and stand-by line at EE!!! It is time to get some park action going!!! :woohoo:
 

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