1200 pics, 1100 miles, 15 deluxe dining meals, 1 great time at POR *Completed 9/5*

[disneymania0711]

Listening to the Podcast and heard you are #10 in the Top 10 threads! Woohoo!! Congrats!!!!

Whoo hoo!!! Awesome!!

 

[themommy]

I saw that too! Congrats!!!

 

[BecBennett]

I'm a little bummed out that I'm finally caught up here. I am really enjoying your trip report! It's fueling my excitement!

I was thinking the same thing It's nice knowing that you're up to date and can be part of the "conversation" but now you've got to wait for updates!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hi all! I'm on the road and don't have a computer with me at the moment, but just wanted to check in to let you all know I'll be responding to everyone and posting a new chapter very shortly...hopefully later today. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

 

[Jeanine3kids]

Enjoying your trip report so much!!! I haven't been on the dis in a while and I was so glad to see a familiar name and family on here it was like meeting an old friend LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PrncessA]

Do you ever wonder how many other people's vacation photos you are in? I am sure my family is in a ton, but I keep expecting us to make an appearance in yours as well!

We were at both the MK and DHS at the same time you were! LOL

Great updates, can't wait for more!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Love the TOT pics!! I've never done this ride. Always been too chicken. Lol. I did promise my husband I will try I next time. I can do it!!!!

Yes you can! DW had never done it either. I finally convinced her to ride and she LOVED it! The visuals are just stunning....one of the best rides at Disney World.

Your T-Rex comments interest me as I've yet to dine there and have it booked for a dinner on my next trip. I've thought all along that I'll like the themed atmosphere a lot (I've even walked through there a couple of times!) but may not be crazy about the food. I'm leaning towards ordering an entrée salad for dinner there, but will see what looks good at the time.

If they just had a not-so-good steak cook when you all were there, I wonder why your DD's steak sandwich turned out so much better than your other steaks? How did she order it cooked, and was it different than how you ordered yours? (I actually prefer well-done steak but not when it's as dry and leathery as a baseball glove!)

As a previous poster advised, I think I would do the appetizer combo as my meal. They seem to do a really good job on their appetizers. I almost ordered the ribs and I wish I would have. DD's steak sandwich was more like a cheesesteak consistency so that would be harder to screw up.

Ahhhh nothing like a good rest followed by ToT and RnR!!

Wow, you're really planning in some late nights! I love that of course.

Haha, the last in front of Tower photo is awesome... but it appears DS missed the memo.

Good on the girls for taking first timing ToT and RnR back to back.

BTW, could I get in on this wager? I promise I've never ridden a thrill ride ever before...

Awwww, super bummer of the missed Meet. So close.

I know right! We didn't even get to the park until about 5:15 or so...so we were all ready for some thrill ride action!

Our last Disney World vacation was five years ago. DS was 12 and DD was 9. Five years makes a HUGE difference! Our family dynamic definitely changed and going forward I'll plan to do as many late nights as possible. That worked out very well for us!

I think DS is at that age where he's all "I'm too cool for a stupid pose" age. If he's anything like me at all, that will pass!

I was so proud that the girls not only rode ToT and RnRC...they actually LOVED them!

Hahahaha, you want in on the wager? Sure, why not! Oh, wait...I seem to remember you riding everything in your trip reports! We LOVE your trip reports Rob!

Yeah I hate that we missed getting the DIS meet. We all knew it was going to be cutting it close, but we had hoped to meet before having to depart for dinner. We had hoped to get to DHS a bit earlier than we did and the others were in American Idol when we had to leave. There's always next time!

Sounds like a good afternoon at Hollywood Studios! Kudos to DW and DD for taking on the two thrill rides back-to-back for the first time!

It was a great afternoon! Only thing better than riding Tower of Terror and Rock N Roller Coaster for the first time with DW and DD...having Fastpasses for both!

I am loving the ToT photo! Everyone's expressions are priceless!!

Hahahahaha! When I saw DD's expression I laughed so hard! DS (aka Mr. Cool) is being all stoic...not DD! That's a genuine first time Tower of Terror scream!

I'm a little bummed out that I'm finally caught up here. I am really enjoying your trip report! It's fueling my excitement!

No need to be bummed much longer! I'm hoping to have a couple of chapters posted here in the next few hours! I'm so glad you are enjoying the report!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Just wanted to let you know that I am lurking here and trying to catch up to you. My daughter ashleymrush told me that I should come and check out your report because I would love it. I can't wait to see what comes next!

Oh so cool! I've been away from a computer for the past several days so I haven't had a chance to check our her trip report, but I intend to as soon as possible! New chapter coming up!

You have the same 3 favorite rides as my 5 year old. I was nervous to let him do Rockin roller coaster, but we spent 3+ hours going back and forth between rockin roller coaster and tower of terror In May

Hahahaha! I'm often being compared to a 5 year old! Ahhhhh going back and forth between Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster, I LOVE it! That's why I love Hollywood Studios so much!

Haha. I always think the same thing every time I see ToT! Glad to know I'm not the only one. Great update!

Thank you very much! Another update is on its way!

Sorry that your meal wasn't great at T-Rex, but the appetizers and dessert should looked yummy.

So glad that DD made it on all thrill rides, loved them all and earned her $20!

I'm so sorry that our timing was just off and we missed meeting. I certainly hope we have another opportunity soon.

I would definitely eat at T-Rex again. Heck, I might even order the T-Bone again, but if I did I would certainly tell the server about my previous experience and to please MAKE SURE that they do not overcook the steak. Other than that I was actually pretty impressed. That was the very last reservation we made, so it wasn't one that we were just dying to do or anything.

Yeah, I was really proud that not only did DD ride all the thrill rides, she actually loved them! I'll have a picture of DD receiving her $20 later in the report.

Yeah, I knew it would be a tight window but I was hoping I would get to Hollywood Studios a little earlier than what we did. In fact, we skipped our Star Tours fastpass at 4:30pm. We will DEFINITELY make some more concrete plans on our next mutual trip!

I'm a bit behind on your TR. As soon as I get the chance I'll get over that way.

I am loving your trip report! You have a very cute family and it really looks like you have so much fun together! It's making me so excited for our trip in November and giving me some great ideas too. We also have a boy and a girl but ours are 6 and 9. This will be their first trip, and we are waiting to tell them until the day we go .

Awwww, thank you very much for your kind words! DS was a bit distracted on this trip with some drama going on back at home, but hey that's typical 17 year old stuff.

Oh my gosh, your kids are the perfect age for their first trip!!! They are going to be SOOO excited! Hopefully you can garner a few ideas from my trip report. Thanks so much for reading along!

Aww the Rockin Roller Coaster ! Every time I get off that ride I say " That ride is awesome ! " I still love that ride and never get tired of it.
I had to laugh at the looks on your DW and DD's photo of the Tower of Terror. They looked just like I did in mine, terrified lol !

Me and you both! I could get off, get back on again, get off, get back on again, etc. And the Aerosmith music just kicks it up a notch! I mean you KNOW you're an awesome band when Disney builds a coaster based on your music!

Hahahaha that Tower of Terror ride picture made me laugh so hard! Even though we had Memory Maker, DS took a pic of the monitor immediately following the ride so he could txt it to his GF.

What a great trip so far! I love your bet with your daughter - too funny!

Thanks very much! That notion of her losing the bet was more than enough to encourage her to ride the big rides...and now she's glad she did! Not to mention $20 richer!

I told you yesterday I was lurking and now I am caught up. You and your family reeled me right in! You guys look like you are having so much fun. Gotta love spending time with your family at Disney. Guess I have to wait patiently for more now. btw...I love school bread.

Yay! Glad you got all caught up. and thank you VERY much for your kind words! Oh gosh yes....I cannot think of anywhere I'd rather be with my family than Disney World. It really is the happiest place on earth!

I love coconut, but honestly I've never been a big fan of "sweet" breads. I don't eat cake at all! (Yes, I know I'm weird!) At our wedding, DW and I ate fudge instead of cake!

WAY late to the game, but I'm caught up and looking forward to more! What a great family you have. I love seeing families that so enjoy spending time together!

Nah, you're not late...you're just in time! So glad to have you along for the ride! I'm very fortunate to have such a wonderful family. Thank you very much!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Listening to the Podcast and heard you are #10 in the Top 10 threads! Woohoo!! Congrats!!!!

Oh. My. Gosh! Are you even kidding? That's WAY cool! I feel like a celebrity! Top 10....yes!!! Thanks for posting! Do you have a link you could share?

Whoo hoo!!! Awesome!!

I saw that too! Congrats!!!

I was thinking the same thing It's nice knowing that you're up to date and can be part of the "conversation" but now you've got to wait for updates!

Hahahaha! I've got your next fix coming right up...promise!

Enjoying your trip report so much!!! I haven't been on the dis in a while and I was so glad to see a familiar name and family on here it was like meeting an old friend LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Jeanine! Wow, so great to see a friend and follower of past reports! Glad you found us~!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Do you ever wonder how many other people's vacation photos you are in? I am sure my family is in a ton, but I keep expecting us to make an appearance in yours as well!

We were at both the MK and DHS at the same time you were! LOL

Great updates, can't wait for more!

YES! I've wondered that many times, because sometimes you KNOW you are in the frame during some of those photopass shots. How wild it would be to see yourself in someone else's trip report!

Wish we would've coordinated a meet up Sara! You have a lovely family!

Brand new update coming up.

 

[alan_renfroe]

As we were leaving the park about 6:40pm on Monday, June 2, we could see that a Friendship Boat was approaching the dock just outside of Disney's Hollywood Studios. Score! We had never taken the Friendship Boat cruise and always wanted to. This was the perfect time to do so. We had dinner reservations at the Flying Fish at 8:00pm.





We boarded, took our seats, and then DD, (who gets her sarcasm from her father), commented: "What is this? The old guy cruise?" (You may notice that the two guys running the boat were a little long in the tooth.) That just cracked me up!

Soon we were on our way!





Friendship Boat Selfie!





First stop: The Swolfin...er...Swan and Dolphin. When we stopped DD commented, "Wow this place is really nice! Do you think we might stay here someday?" Hmmm....food for thought! One never knows!



One more stop at Beach & Yacht Club, then we were on our way to the Boardwalk!













Now I must admit...these photos were totally staged by DW! We had a great picture from five years ago of the two of them at this same place looking out over the water and DW wanted to recreate the scene.

2014:



2009:


They both turned out to be pretty darn good young adults if I do say so myself!





We watched the street performer for a bit then checked in at the Flying Fish.



Coming up next: our second signature restaurant dinner at Flying Fish!

 

[annie170]

That was a great recreation of the earlier photo! Your kids are good sports!

I just love the Boardwalk area! My daughter has suggested renting DVC points next trip and staying at either Beach or Yacht Club. We'll see...

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Flying Fish.

 

[mblc14]

Here is a link to the show notes page. I bet you can watch it and see how famous you've become!!! We all knew it before it was dis official though.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/07/02/dis-unplugged-podcast-070114-orlando-show/

Great update! we are staying at BW in December and seeing your pics gets me all excited again. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Flying Fish!

Mike

 

[mblc14]

That was a great recreation of the earlier photo! Your kids are good sports!

I just love the Boardwalk area! My daughter has suggested renting DVC points next trip and staying at either Beach or Yacht Club. We'll see...

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Flying Fish.

Annie- that is exactly what we are doing! Love walking thru this area and we thought we had to try it out for our next trip. Renting points this Dec.

 

[rteetz]

First I want to congratulate you on being in the top ten threads of the month on the disunplugged podcast show.

We stayed at the dolphin in 2012 its a great hotel cheaper than POR with deluxe amenities. For us though it wasn't disney enough for us so we probably won't stay their again anytime soon but I would definitely recommend it. Those friendship boats were great we used them to go to DHS and Epcot all the time. It's funny you mentioned the old guys working the boats they were all like that! We have a friend who wants to drive the boats when he retires. So that must be what everyone driving the baits has done.

 

[jad215]

Hello Team Renfroe! I followed your 2009 CSR Report since we were in the process of planning an October 2009 CSR trip at the time. As usual an awesome trip report! It's nice to see how much fun your family has together and I can't believe how grown up the kids got! I particularly enjoyed the Ohana dining review as we are having our rehearsal dinner there for our October Disney Fairytale Wedding

POR looks like a beautiful resort, maybe we'll do an evening carriage ride on our honeymoon.

Thanks for all the great info, and I'm happy you made the top 10 or I may have missed out on this report. Can't wait for more updates!

 

[PrncessA]

YES! I've wondered that many times, because sometimes you KNOW you are in the frame during some of those photopass shots. How wild it would be to see yourself in someone else's trip report!

Wish we would've coordinated a meet up Sara! You have a lovely family!

Brand new update coming up.

Me too! Hopefully next time, but who knows when we will make it back. It took us 5 years to get back this time.

2014:



2009:


They both turned out to be pretty darn good young adults if I do say so myself!

Love the time lapse photos!! It is amazing how much they grew!

You have a beautiful family!

I can't wait to hear a bout Flying Fish, it was on my list, but I didn't think the kids would like it so it got axed quickly. I live vicariously though other people's food reviews and photos.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ahh, I enjoy the Friendship boats (I mean c'mon they're FRIENDSHIP boats), just as long as I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere. When you have the time, it's a lovely cruise for sure.

"Old Guy Cruise". Well, it IS Florida.

I so love the Boardwalk. It's unreal how much there is to do in Disney and you don't even need to be in a park.

Awww I love that you did the "recreation" photo Alan. I've seen this done by others, and if I had kids would totally do that too. It's such a great idea.

 

[alan_renfroe]

That was a great recreation of the earlier photo! Your kids are good sports!

I just love the Boardwalk area! My daughter has suggested renting DVC points next trip and staying at either Beach or Yacht Club. We'll see...

Looking forward to hearing about your dinner at Flying Fish.

Hahaha, I don't know if I'd call them good sports or not...DW about had to twist DS's arm to participate. One day he'll look back and be glad that she did.

I love that Boardwalk area also! The sounds...the smells...the entertainment! Would be wonderful to have a stay there someday.

Flying Fish dinner review is coming up.

Here is a link to the show notes page. I bet you can watch it and see how famous you've become!!! We all knew it before it was dis official though.

http://www.disunplugged.com/2014/07/02/dis-unplugged-podcast-070114-orlando-show/

Great update! we are staying at BW in December and seeing your pics gets me all excited again. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Flying Fish!

Mike

VERY cool! That made my day. Thanks Mike! Flying Fish review is coming up with some mouth watering photos!

Annie- that is exactly what we are doing! Love walking thru this area and we thought we had to try it out for our next trip. Renting points this Dec.

That sounds like a great idea. Hope you all have a wonderful trip!

First I want to congratulate you on being in the top ten threads of the month on the disunplugged podcast show.

We stayed at the dolphin in 2012 its a great hotel cheaper than POR with deluxe amenities. For us though it wasn't disney enough for us so we probably won't stay their again anytime soon but I would definitely recommend it. Those friendship boats were great we used them to go to DHS and Epcot all the time. It's funny you mentioned the old guys working the boats they were all like that! We have a friend who wants to drive the boats when he retires. So that must be what everyone driving the baits has done.

Thanks for the congrats! I've got to admit I was pretty excited about that!

Yep, that's exactly why we haven't stayed there before. Plus we are usually on the dining plan and you can't do that staying at the Swan or Dolphin. I can foresee a future trip possibly staying at one of those resorts and paying for things out of pocket. But now I'm thinking we would be like, "why are we not staying at Port Orleans Riverside?" I do like the grounds and the location. Would definitely be convenient for Epcot and Hollywood Studios.

We noticed that all of the boats seemed to be manned by older gentlemen! Maybe that's the dream job of a retiree. That would certainly work for me! Who wouldn't love to have a job where everyone around you is happy!

Hello Team Renfroe! I followed your 2009 CSR Report since we were in the process of planning an October 2009 CSR trip at the time. As usual an awesome trip report! It's nice to see how much fun your family has together and I can't believe how grown up the kids got! I particularly enjoyed the Ohana dining review as we are having our rehearsal dinner there for our October Disney Fairytale Wedding

POR looks like a beautiful resort, maybe we'll do an evening carriage ride on our honeymoon.

Thanks for all the great info, and I'm happy you made the top 10 or I may have missed out on this report. Can't wait for more updates!

Hi! Glad you remembered Team Renfroe for our report five years ago! And congratulations on your upcoming Disney Fairytale Wedding. How exciting!

Haven't the kids changed tremendously? We don't really have "kids" anymore. But what we DO have are two fine young adults and we're certainly proud of both of them.

I would DEFINITELY recommend a horse and buggy ride at POR! It's amazing that a resort with 2,000 rooms can be so peaceful and serene. I think you'll definitely find it to be romantic.

Thanks for the congrats on the top 10. Pretty darn cool!

Me too! Hopefully next time, but who knows when we will make it back. It took us 5 years to get back this time.

Love the time lapse photos!! It is amazing how much they grew!

You have a beautiful family!

I can't wait to hear a bout Flying Fish, it was on my list, but I didn't think the kids would like it so it got axed quickly. I live vicariously though other people's food reviews and photos.

Yeah it may be a while before we go back as well. DS graduates high school next year so I'm sure he'll go on some kind of Senior graduation trip or something. I'm still holding out hope that DW and I can do a trip for just the two of us at some point. We've always wanted to go during the Food & Wine Festival....or free dining!

Thanks so much for the compliment about the family. You have a beautiful family as well! We are really enjoying your trip report and Ethan and Lorelai look like they are having the time of their lives!

Flying Fish report is coming up next. Spoiler alert: it's gonna be a good one!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Ahh, I enjoy the Friendship boats (I mean c'mon they're FRIENDSHIP boats), just as long as I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere. When you have the time, it's a lovely cruise for sure.

"Old Guy Cruise". Well, it IS Florida.

I so love the Boardwalk. It's unreal how much there is to do in Disney and you don't even need to be in a park.

Awww I love that you did the "recreation" photo Alan. I've seen this done by others, and if I had kids would totally do that too. It's such a great idea.

Hahahaha! I KNEW you would get a kick out of that comment Rob! DD cracked me up with that comment...and you're right, after all it IS Florida! Their unofficial motto should be "the Retiree State".

Man, you are so right about all the things there are to do at Disney World. Some of my favorite things are just being on property, relaxing, and taking in the beauty of the whole place. The very first time we took our kids to Disney World was in 2005, and we had no clue what we were doing. We only went for one day to the Magic Kingdom and we were "those people" who wandered aimlessly and stood in long lines. BUT, it was on that day that DW and I decided we needed to do a full-blown do-everything Disney World vacation. We saved for three years and did our first REAL Disney World vacation in 2008. In researching for that trip we found the DISboards and we educated ourselves about all things Disney. And it is because of awesome trip reporters, like yourself, that we were well prepared!

It's funny because when we took that original photo in 2009 we had no idea it would become our iconic family pic! We just thought it was a sweet shot of the two of them. Once we got to the Boardwalk on this trip, I KNEW DW was going to insist on getting them to pose at that same spot....and of course she did!