ashleyrm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 24, 1999
Trip report – Feb 8-11, 2009
Pre-trip and such:
Last trip report, January 2009 (if you are interested!)
In January 2009, I drove from Delaware to WDW with my 23 year old son to deliver him to Disney for his participation in the Disney College Program. I spent a couple of extra days enjoying the parks before coming home. Shortly before we went down, I found out that that a task force of which I am a member had scheduled their February 2009 quarterly meeting in Orlando. Not only in Orlando, but at the Regal Sun Resort which is one of the Downtown Disney Resorts! The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday so I decided to go down on Sunday and have a couple of days of Disney to myself before the meeting. I was able to use my son’s Cast Member Discount to get my one night room at Port Orleans Riverside. I wanted a rental car for the first couple of days of my trip and found out that Dollar Car Rental has an office at the Regal Sun Resort so I arranged to get a car at MCO on Sunday and drop it off at the Regal Sun Resort before my meeting.
One thing I noticed after my January trip was that I didn’t take any where near enough pictures and I didn’t do a very good job of keeping notes. I definitely took more pictures this time and tried to do a better job of taking notes, so here it is…
Who: me, WDW veteran
Why: Two days at WDW at Port Orleans Riverside followed by three days of work meetings at the Regal Sun Resort.
Sunday, February 8
Arrival:
Flew from Philadelphia to Orlando on the 7:55 a.m. USAir flight. I had decided to rent a car from Dollar Rental because they have an office in the Regal Sun Resort therefore, I could pick up my car at MCO and then drop it off at the hotel for no extra charge. Several weeks after I made my reservation, I signed up for Dollar Express. Since I had made my reservation before joining, when I got to MCO I decided that I had better wait in the regular line and then when I checked in the agent walked down to the Express check-in and all of my paperwork was there waiting for me! While waiting for my agent, I peered down to the Disney Magical Express (ME) line and it was really, really long. I have heard that even when it is long, they still can move people through pretty fast, but I was still glad that I didn’t have to wait in that line! I got a pretty nice Chrysler Sebring and was off to WDW. After paying my $1.50 in tolls I made my quickly to Port Orleans Riverside, parked and headed into check-in. When I first got onto Disney property some guy in a Dodge Challenger with a New Jersey plates cut into my lane without a signal and I had to slam on my brakes to not run into him. After giving him a friendly one fingered wave, I went around him so as not to get stuck behind the buses turning into Old Key West and Port Orleans French Quarter. So when I turned into POR, there was Jersey guy right behind me. Check-in went very smoothly – had a really friendly CM. When I had booked using my son’s CM discount, there were no standard view rooms available so I had to book a water view, but it was only for one night and with the discount it wasn’t that big of a deal. I got a second floor room in the Arcadia section of the Mansions. I drove over and started to park and guess what – Jersey guy was parked right next to me. Took me awhile to find my room.
The “water view” room afforded me a slight glimpse of the pool through a bunch of trees and an even smaller glimpse of the Sassagoula through even more trees. The standard room I had at Port Orleans French Quarter in January had more of a water view than this room!
View to the right - if you look really close in the center of the picture is a bridge which I think goes over the Sassagoula to Ol' Man Island
View straight ahead - Disney's idea of a "water view"
It was also right at the top of a set of stairs which was a bit of a pain. I kept the shutters closed most of the time.
View to the left - The light fixture is at the top of the much trafficked staircase:
Pre-trip and such:
Last trip report, January 2009 (if you are interested!)
In January 2009, I drove from Delaware to WDW with my 23 year old son to deliver him to Disney for his participation in the Disney College Program. I spent a couple of extra days enjoying the parks before coming home. Shortly before we went down, I found out that that a task force of which I am a member had scheduled their February 2009 quarterly meeting in Orlando. Not only in Orlando, but at the Regal Sun Resort which is one of the Downtown Disney Resorts! The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday to Thursday so I decided to go down on Sunday and have a couple of days of Disney to myself before the meeting. I was able to use my son’s Cast Member Discount to get my one night room at Port Orleans Riverside. I wanted a rental car for the first couple of days of my trip and found out that Dollar Car Rental has an office at the Regal Sun Resort so I arranged to get a car at MCO on Sunday and drop it off at the Regal Sun Resort before my meeting.
One thing I noticed after my January trip was that I didn’t take any where near enough pictures and I didn’t do a very good job of keeping notes. I definitely took more pictures this time and tried to do a better job of taking notes, so here it is…
Who: me, WDW veteran
Why: Two days at WDW at Port Orleans Riverside followed by three days of work meetings at the Regal Sun Resort.
Sunday, February 8
Arrival:
Flew from Philadelphia to Orlando on the 7:55 a.m. USAir flight. I had decided to rent a car from Dollar Rental because they have an office in the Regal Sun Resort therefore, I could pick up my car at MCO and then drop it off at the hotel for no extra charge. Several weeks after I made my reservation, I signed up for Dollar Express. Since I had made my reservation before joining, when I got to MCO I decided that I had better wait in the regular line and then when I checked in the agent walked down to the Express check-in and all of my paperwork was there waiting for me! While waiting for my agent, I peered down to the Disney Magical Express (ME) line and it was really, really long. I have heard that even when it is long, they still can move people through pretty fast, but I was still glad that I didn’t have to wait in that line! I got a pretty nice Chrysler Sebring and was off to WDW. After paying my $1.50 in tolls I made my quickly to Port Orleans Riverside, parked and headed into check-in. When I first got onto Disney property some guy in a Dodge Challenger with a New Jersey plates cut into my lane without a signal and I had to slam on my brakes to not run into him. After giving him a friendly one fingered wave, I went around him so as not to get stuck behind the buses turning into Old Key West and Port Orleans French Quarter. So when I turned into POR, there was Jersey guy right behind me. Check-in went very smoothly – had a really friendly CM. When I had booked using my son’s CM discount, there were no standard view rooms available so I had to book a water view, but it was only for one night and with the discount it wasn’t that big of a deal. I got a second floor room in the Arcadia section of the Mansions. I drove over and started to park and guess what – Jersey guy was parked right next to me. Took me awhile to find my room.
The “water view” room afforded me a slight glimpse of the pool through a bunch of trees and an even smaller glimpse of the Sassagoula through even more trees. The standard room I had at Port Orleans French Quarter in January had more of a water view than this room!
View to the right - if you look really close in the center of the picture is a bridge which I think goes over the Sassagoula to Ol' Man Island
View straight ahead - Disney's idea of a "water view"
It was also right at the top of a set of stairs which was a bit of a pain. I kept the shutters closed most of the time.
View to the left - The light fixture is at the top of the much trafficked staircase: