Sure he has his Disney driver's license... a March 2016 Trip Report

Sydney2977 · Mar 23, 2016

Introductions:

Welcome readers! Thank you for joining me in reliving our recent Disney vacation. It was my 11th visit, our 8th as a family, and our 1st without our older son. Our last trip as a family was Nov. 2013, older DS's senior year in high school. I knew it may be while before we were able to go again, but I kept saving up anyway.

Well, between older DS deciding in April 2014 that he wanted to go into the Air Force, DH being medically retired in May 2014 after 17 years in the Air Force (ankle injury that occurred in 2005 and had been an ongoing issue), DS working and taking college classes while he was in the delayed enlistment program to ensure he got in the career field he wanted, DH starting a new job, then DS going to basic training in May 2015 and then tech school (which we used vacation time to go visit him at both), plus factoring in younger DS's school and extracurricular activities and my work schedule (I work in a retail environment, which is not very conducive to taking vacations at normal holiday times)- phew!- we couldn't get another trip in.

Older DS was off for two weeks this past Christmas time, so he decided to go with his girlfriend, who is also a Disney nut, for a four day trip while she was also home from college. I helped them plan the trip and at that time decided with DH that we could fit in to go this Spring! Looking at both our work schedules and knowing we would have to take DS out of school we picked a week where there was minimum make up work needed for him. I was kind of disappointed leading up to this knowing our other DS wouldn't be with us. Then after his and his gf's trip in Dec. I came to the realization that he is growing up and this trip for us would be different but still fun. (this is them- lovin' RnR!)

In planning this trip I wanted to include a bunch of different places to eat. We looooooove to eat in our family, so I poured over menus to pick restaurants that I knew we'd all enjoy. Sometimes this was hard because DH and DS are not as adventurous eaters as our other DS and I are, but I wanted to stray away from the usual places we go to.

frostymojo · Mar 23, 2016

I'm in!

Gracefulskinny · Mar 23, 2016

JOining in!

Scooterbritches · Mar 24, 2016

Keep going please.

PoohGal05 · Mar 24, 2016

I'm in!

mdsouth · Mar 24, 2016

Thanks for posting your link in your pre-trip report thread. I am here and ready to share in your experiences!

Sydney2977 · Mar 24, 2016

Gracefulskinny said:
JOining in!

Yay, you found me!

Scooterbritches said:
Keep going please.

Glad you want to hear more! Work's kinda crazy now, but I'll try to get updates in little by little...

PoohGal05 said:
I'm in!

Welcome!

mdsouth said:
Thanks for posting your link in your pre-trip report thread. I am here and ready to share in your experiences!

Good to see you here!

Sydney2977 · Mar 24, 2016

February 23:
"Woo hoo! Tomorrow is single digit dancing day!" I was thinking. We were at DS's Boy Scout meeting and I couldn't even concentrate on my treasurer duties and signing boys up for the next campout because I was so excited. Military vouchers were in hand, adr's scheduled, fast passes picked, online check-in done, clothes pulled in the closet, little stuff like sunscreen packed in the new backpack I ordered from Amazon (thanks to that birthday gift card I had), and magic bands were painted.

It was towards the end of the meeting and the boys were outside playing a game as they usually do. Older DS, who was home to pack up his stuff before moving to his new base, was at the meeting just visiting. He came inside and told DH and I that younger DS had hurt his ankle. I didn't think anything of it because he's a pretty tough kid. Then DH went to see and came back and told me we probably needed to call and get him a referral to the emergency room. What?!? I took one look and was packing up, rushing everyone to the car, and was on the phone. His ankle was swollen up like it had a golf ball stuck in it! I won't gross y'all out with the pictures, but it looked pretty bad. X-rays showed he had fractured his ankle right next to the growth plate, so the ER doctor put a temporary cast on it, gave him crutches, and set him up to see an orthopedic doctor Friday. After we got home, settled, and were laying in bed trying to fall asleep, DH whispers to me "You know, there's better ways to get to the front of the line..."

Friday February 26:

DH took DS to the orthopedic doctor and just as we suspected, he put him in a cast. I thought you Dis members would get a kick out of the fact that he picked a lime green cast- I swear I had nothing to do with the choice! DH and I discussed the fact that the water park, the pool, and several rides were out of the game plan now, and we also decided DS would need an ecv. We didn't want to torture him making him hobble around on crutches the whole time, and neither of us thought we'd make it pushing him a wheelchair. We had to rent one back in 2010 when DH had to have ankle surgery right before our trip and was in a boot. I knew we'd want to rent from somewhere that would deliver and pick up from the resort because that was so convenient before. After some online research I chose Apple for the size and price- $170 from Sat. at 3pm till the following Sun. at 2pm! That was better than we got the one for DH, although this one was smaller, saying up to 170lb. I posted something about it one here and got some responses about companies not renting to those under 18. Uh-oh, I hadn't even thought of that! Technically I rented it online even though DS would be the one using it. And he's old enough to drive a car and knows how, so how much different car a scooter be? I hope we don't get in trouble...

Friday March 4:

It was finally reveal day! I got off early from work and DH was already off, so we started packing and took our dog to the boarder. I got a text from DS that his friend couldn't give him a ride home, so DH and I decided to go get him together. (Normally I would have said to ride the bus, but no so easy on crutches.) I had laid out the new Star Wars shirt I got him and his magic band on his bed so he'd see it when he came in. I had my camera ready when I heard him call from his room "Que es esto?" "What?" I said. ""Que es esto?" he repeated more drawn out. "I don't speak Spanish, what do you mean?" I tried not to laugh as I walked into his room. He held out the magic band and said "Madre?" I asked him what he thought it was and he said he knew what it was, but when? I asked him when did he think and he said "Summer?" "No, sooner." "Spring Break?" "No, tomorrow." "What?!?!?! Are you serious?" "DH had come in by now and we both had to keep repeating that we were leaving tomorrow and he needed to pack. He was in complete disbelief how we had kept it a secret.

We all finished packing and tried to go to bed around 10:00, but it was probably closer to midnight when I finally fell asleep. I didn't set an alarm for the morning because I knew our cat, who our neighbor would be watching, would wake us up for breakfast. Yipee! Vacation was officially starting!

Gracefulskinny · Mar 25, 2016

Sydney2977 said:
He came inside and told DH and I that younger DS had hurt his ankle. I didn't think anything of it because he's a pretty tough kid. Then DH went to see and came back and told me we probably needed to call and get him a referral to the emergency room. What?!?

Sydney2977 said:
X-rays showed he had fractured his ankle right next to the growth plate, so the ER doctor put a temporary cast on it, gave him crutches, and set him up to see an orthopedic doctor Friday. After we got home, settled, and were laying in bed trying to fall asleep, DH whispers to me "You know, there's better ways to get to the front of the line..."

Glad you were at least able to get him an ecv!

Sydney2977 said:
I asked him when did he think and he said "Summer?" "No, sooner." "Spring Break?" "No, tomorrow." "What?!?!?! Are you serious?" "DH had come in by now and we both had to keep repeating that we were leaving tomorrow and he needed to pack. He was in complete disbelief how we had kept it a secret.

Sydney2977 · Mar 25, 2016

Saturday March 5- Getting there isn't half the battle, it IS the battle:

Finally! It's departure day! I must have been really tired from a long week at work because I actually slept in till 7:30! I got up and showered, which woke up DH who got up to get ready next. Banging around in the kitchen making breakfast woke up DS, who drug himself out of bed to get ready. He is sooooo not a morning person. After breakfast we packed up the toiletries, loaded the car, and were pulling out of the driveway by 9:00. DS still didn't seem totally awake.

The first part of our drive is through some small towns till we get onto I-95, then once we hit that we were riding free. DH and I were discussing how bad traffic is in the Charleston area and how it was nice to have a smooth drive. Well, I think we jinxed ourselves. We were fine through South Carolina but once we got down to Georgia the traffic started picking up. OK, it's Saturday, that could account for it. Then we hit Florida and had to stop at our favorite rest stop- The Florida Welcome Center. Had some fun playing there

We had to get a sample of juice too.

We made our way back onto I-95 and then we ran into it- dead stopping on the freeway, I kid you not! Bumper to bumper like rush hour, totally ridiculous, and we'd never seen anything like it on our trips. The only thing we could think of was maybe it was from Daytona Beach Bike Week, because there were an awful lot of people with motorcycles on trailers. The traffic would stop for no apparent reason, we'd inch forward off and on, then it would clear up for a while, only to go back to stopping again- so stressful thinking we were going to wreck every few minutes. We finally got to Jacksonville and stopped for lunch at Whataburger- at almost 2:00! Normally it doesn't take more than 4 hours to get there even with bathroom breaks. Back on the road after eating, and it was more of the same insanity. Took even longer to get through Jacksonville.

Traffic lightened a little bit after we got on I-4 but we ran into more coming into Orlando, so it was almost 5:00 when we reached the most welcoming sign ever!

We got a little confused with the construction but figured out where to go to get to our resort. As we pulled up to the gate and let the guard know we were checking in all I could think about was getting to our room and relaxing after hearing that "welcome home!" Thankfully we wouldn't have to wait long.

dcsetman · Mar 25, 2016

following along - will be there POFQ in about 65 days

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

Saturday March 5- Room with a view

We pulled up to the main building at POFQ and DH let DS and I out and went to park. We were greeted at the door by two young smiling friendly CM's and given some tri-colored beads. As we walked (or in DS's case, crutched :crutches:

) in we took in the beauty of the lobby.

Since I had done online check in we proceeded to the desk for that and no one else was in line. The CM quickly pulled up our room location and marked on the map how to get there. I had booked a river view because we got a good discount and because I was hoping for a quiet location. DH joined us and we walked back outside to bell services to pick up DS's ECV. I showed him on the map where the CM had recommended us to park and he went to move the car while DS and I walked/drove to the room.

We have visited POFQ to eat before, but I really didn't realize how compact the resort is and how close everything is. The grounds were even prettier than I remembered too and it was a nice welcoming spring feeling. We met DH at the elevator to our building and rode up to the 2nd floor. I had requested an upper floor before DS broke his ankle because I thought it would make a nicer view, but I didn't want to go back and change it and also didn't want to be too close to the elevator because of the noise. Well someone sprinkled some pixie dust on us because we came out of the elevator and only had to go right down one side of the building to get to our room- super convenient and easy to remember! The view was amazing!

We checked to make sure all of our magic bands worked to get in the room and went on in.

Before we went to get our bags I had to get shots around the room. We loved the décor and the size was just right.

The guys had to test out the beds, and DS found Disney channel on TV to watch while DH and I went to get all of our stuff out of the car.

Driving allowed us to pack lots more, plus we had one less person than normal, so DS had room to bring the long pillow he'd been using to prop his leg up with. Once everything was in the room, DH and I unpacked clothes, hanging some (yes, I bring hangers from home, don't judge

) and putting the rest in drawers, and using the area under the bench for all of our shoes (ok, so most of them were mine...). We got all the toiletries out and took over the bathroom and sink counters. Plenty of room for everything- even all the medicine I brought- basically our entire medicine cabinet just in case, and thankfully we didn't need any of all week. Ahhh, now I felt moved in and ready for a week of relaxing and fun. we looked at the clock and realized we had about 15 minutes to get to our 6:30 dinner adr at Boatwright's. I had originally planned for us to walk over, but decided we could just drive over so we wouldn't be late. DS grabbed his crutches and we headed out the door.

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

dcsetman said:
following along - will be there POFQ in about 65 days

Welcome, thanks for joining! Who does your travel party consist of? I'm sure you'll enjoy POFQ. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can- ask away!

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

Saturday March 5- Dinner at Boatwright's

Originally I was undecided on where to eat on arrival night. CS or TS? Resort or Disney Springs? After reading through menus- duh!- it made perfect sense to try Boatwright's at POR since we'd be right next door at POFQ.

We've visited POR to look around before so we knew right where to go when we arrived. We checked in at the podium, were given a pager, and took a seat on the benches across the walkway area. After the stressful drive down the peacefulness of POFQ had calmed us a bit, but I started to regret my dining choice when I realized how loud it seemed in the main dining area.

Tinkerbelle must having been watching over us with her pixie dust again, because a few minutes later when our pager went off we were led to a nice quiet area in the back of the restaurant with the lights turned down a bit and a cozy fireplace. The groups already seated there seemed to want to be quiet and relaxed just like us. It was a good thing we didn't bring DS's ECV because there wasn't really a good place to park or leave it, but he was fine using his crutches and they just rested at the empty 4th seat.

Our sweet CM came right over and chatted with us a bit about where we were from and talked to DS about his broken ankle. She took our drink orders- water with lime for us all, I think we felt dehydrated- and told us she'd be bringing out cornbread too. It was warm, soft, and tasty even with out the butter, but I did eat some with butter too.

After we put our orders in DS was asking about all of the decorations on the walls and DH was explaining what all the old tools and implements were used for. Good thing he's so knowledgeable! We hadn't even finished our cornbread when dinner arrived, brought out by another CM who was joking with us- always love when they really make you feel at home.

DS and DH each ordered something different and decided to split them. They got the Voodoo chicken, which they said had nice lightly battered crispy chicken and a crispy yet soft waffle. They really loved the bacon "gravy" syrup that came with it.

The guys also split the Turbodog bbq ribs, with DH eating the fries and DS eating the coleslaw. They said the ribs were nice and tender and the sauce had a sweet and smoky flavor.

There were a couple things I was going back and forth on but I decided to try the jambalaya. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. It had more meat and shrimp in it than I thought it would and was more flavorful. The rice was cooked perfectly and the spices were what I like- though some with milder taste buds might find it spicy.

The portions may not look big, but believe me, we were thoroughly stuffed by the time we finished! Some of their desserts sound delicious but we had no room left. While waiting for our bill the guys had to have an ice stacking contest with their straws

rolleyes: you see what I have to deal with?).

We were well taken care of during our whole visit, our drinks were kept filled, we never felt rushed, our CM was friendly and engaging, the atmosphere was relaxing, and overall it was the perfect start to our vacation! We will definitely visit again in the future.

phabric · Mar 27, 2016

Enjoyed your review. Looking for more.

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

Saturday March 5- One last thing to do tonight

Now that we were stuffed from dinner, we waddled back to the car, drove back to the POFQ parking lot, went by the room to pick up jackets and sweatshirts, and then on to the bus stop. Along the way the guys couldn't resist a quick game.

I had planned to decorate the window (mainly so we could find our room easier) but couldn't really find anything and ended up just using these stickers I just ordered that are going to go on our cars. One is the Hitchhiking Ghosts, one is an image from the Norway mural (DH always says the kid looks like he is about to shank the other kid who has the fish) that says "Maelstrom- Never Forget", and the other is from Carousel of Progress and says "No privacy at all around this place." The fit right in the window frames without having to stick them on.

So onto our mission- activate our military vouchers! I had already linked them to our magic bands but we still had to go to guest relations, show proof with a military id, and then they would work. Of course we could have chosen to do this on our first park or activity visit, but we weren't doing anything else, so why not? We hopped on a bus to MK and took a nice ride. Even though it was after 8:00 when we got there plenty of people were still going in. We went through the security check area and over to the right side and the guest relations line. It was surprisingly a long line but there were five windows open so it moved pretty quick. We had another very sweet and efficient CM who was able to take our vouchers, which I had written our names on to which ones I had linked to which magic band, and quickly link them to the bands after checking DH's id because our info was already in the system. Then we were all set up! Originally I had planned to possibly watch the Electric Water Pageant, but we were all pretty tired and chose to just head back to the resort versus waiting for the parade. Back to the bus stop, and we only waited a few minutes for one.

Once we got back to POFQ we stopped by Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory (I love saying that) to get our mugs, but they only had two colors out. The CM said they would be putting more out in the morning, so no problem.We stopped for a bit to listen to the guy playing saxophone, which DS really enjoyed since that's what he plays. He thought it was really cool that he played Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean."

On the way back to the room we stopped to watch the end of Aladdin. I would have though the movie would be loud, but it wasn't bad.

Back in the room we got ready for bed and I think we were all asleep by 10:00.

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

phabric said:
Enjoyed your review. Looking for more.

I'm glad you like it! Don't worry, there's plenty more food and fun coming!

MrsB1228 · Mar 27, 2016

Great review, POFQ is our favourite resort so I'm happy to read your family likes it too. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Sydney2977 · Mar 27, 2016

MrsB1228 said:
Great review, POFQ is our favourite resort so I'm happy to read your family likes it too. Looking forward to the next instalment.

Happy you can join me! I see from your signature that you've stayed multiple times at POFQ, and it looks like you like to eat like we do! We really enjoyed both the resort and the food on this trip.

dcsetman · Mar 27, 2016

Sydney2977 said:
Welcome, thanks for joining! Who does your travel party consist of? I'm sure you'll enjoy POFQ. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can- ask away!

Hey - My husband and I and two of our granddaughters (14 and 16). We've been to POFQ once before (and stayed at many other Disney Resorts) and I love it - the theme and the compact size! I hope you and your family have a magical time. I am hoping the new Frozen ride and experience will be open in Epcot by the time we are there. Tuesday night at Midnight (into Wed morning) is my magic day for scheduling our FP+ - I am so Ready!!

Sure he has his Disney driver's license... a March 2016 Trip Report

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