A Pre Thanksgiving/Christmas Vacation, Our First Split Stay & Our 5th Trip to Disney!

[drakes]

We're back.

I can't believe it's over already. The depression started to set in about Thursday afternoon. The move Friday helped take our mind of off it! But then yesterday was a sad day. But we had a wonderful time and have lots of wonderful memories and can't wait to start planning our next trip!

We liked both resorts. Both had their pros and cons. We don't have a new favorite. Guess our hearts will always belong to CBR. But we certainly didn't dislike POR or OKW. I'm glad we did the split stay. It was fun. Not sure we'd do it again though. Maybe if we were going for about 12 days!!

The weather was nice. The temps were perfect. All the days were right around 80, except for Thursday was in the 60's and Friday was about 75. It was very WINDY most days. Seriously, CRAZY WINDY from stupid tropical storm Ida. But it could have been much worse. We only got rain one night and it didn't start until we were on the bus back to POR. So we had to walk to our room in the rain. That was it, not bad! Yesterday was the perfect day weather wise. Sunny and warm. Beautiful.

Lines were short for the most part! The parks always seemed crowded though. But most of our waits were 5-25 minutes.

Thanks for keeping things going while I was away! Most days went as planned, some varied from the plan a bit. Much more later. TONS of pictures. Somewhere around 1100 to be exact!

I will do a POR report. An OKW report. A dining report. And a TR of course. Eventually! Nut until then feel free to ask any questions!

Missed you all!

So happy to hear good news about your trip !
You came to the right place to be consoed on your disney sadness, we've all been there before! causes and then we wsh for some pixie dust and start the planning all over

We did miss you too, but oh so glad you were in such a magical place... and now we get to share with all those trip reports.


Joanne

P.S. I thought POR would have won your boys over, so now I am excited to here the resort reports.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Welcome back!!! We obviously missed you - but glad to hear you had a good trip! Looks like I'll have to add a couple more subscriptions to my ever-growing list!!

 

[lala3291]

Glad to hear you had a great trip! We missed you! Looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

Happy to hear that you enjoyed your trip! I am quite excited to hear all the details! Hope that you and the family are able to get settled in and back to your normal routine without too much sadness!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Welcome back - I'm glad that Ida left you alone for the most part (except for the wind)!!!

 

[trixiequilts]

I will do a POR report. An OKW report. A dining report. And a TR of course.

Yay!!!

 

[Jane-in-PA]

Welcome back, Shelly!! And thanks for giving us a little shout out to say hi and that you did have a great time. We'll all be waiting for all the details - and not so patiently! Maybe tomorrow between unpacking and laundry you can give us just a few tidbits. My first question: which bldg. were you in at POR?

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Hey Shelly! I was feeling sooo sad for you Friday!!! I am glad you are home safe and had such awesome weather!!!!! Can't wait to hear allll your news!!!And was that water slide what you hoped for? I know that was a biggie!!!

 

[Pluto_fan]

Welcome home Shelly!
Glad you had a great time...we're all looking forward to your reports!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Yesterday at this time we were still in Florida! On the depressing ME ride back to the airport, but still in Florida!

Thanks for all the welcome backs!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

So happy to hear good news about your trip !
You came to the right place to be consoed on your disney sadness, we've all been there before! causes and then we wsh for some pixie dust and start the planning all over

We did miss you too, but oh so glad you were in such a magical place... and now we get to share with all those trip reports.


Joanne

P.S. I thought POR would have won your boys over, so now I am excited to here the resort reports.

Thanks Joanne. It is so depressing to be home! On our last night at Disney as I was trying to get the boys to settle down and get to bed early, DS8 kept saying - but I don't want to go home!!

POR just about won over the boys and us, but there were a few minor things that kept it from becoming our favorite moderate. It's definitely number 2 though!

Welcome back!!! We obviously missed you - but glad to hear you had a good trip! Looks like I'll have to add a couple more subscriptions to my ever-growing list!!

Thanks!

I know, I am now way behind on everyone else's PTR's and I'm not sure when I'll be able to catch up!

Glad to hear you had a great trip! We missed you! Looking forward to hearing about all of your adventures

Thanks!

Hopefully I will get to my reports soon! I'm in the middle of editing my pictures now.

Happy to hear that you enjoyed your trip! I am quite excited to hear all the details! Hope that you and the family are able to get settled in and back to your normal routine without too much sadness!

Thanks!

It was a rough morning. The kids had zero interest in going back to school. But hopefully we will get back into the swing of things here shortly!

Welcome back - I'm glad that Ida left you alone for the most part (except for the wind)!!!

Thanks!

Yes, the weather could have been much worse for us. So we were very lucky. But that wind was super crazy!! Hard to stand up at times. Wait till you see my hair in some pictures! Our boat driver even lost his hat on the way to DTD one day!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Yay!!!

I will be sure to give you all the details about POR and OKW! Are they still both on your short list for next year?

Welcome back, Shelly!! And thanks for giving us a little shout out to say hi and that you did have a great time. We'll all be waiting for all the details - and not so patiently! Maybe tomorrow between unpacking and laundry you can give us just a few tidbits. My first question: which bldg. were you in at POR?

Thanks! We were in building 27 at POR. Great location, loved it! Wish I could say the same about our building/location at OKW. Okay, I guess I just gave away the the "con" of OKW.

Hey Shelly! I was feeling sooo sad for you Friday!!! I am glad you are home safe and had such awesome weather!!!!! Can't wait to hear allll your news!!!And was that water slide what you hoped for? I know that was a biggie!!!

I was feeling so sad for me Friday too! But yes, we were very blessed to make it through the trip with such nice weather, low crowds, and staying healthy!

I unfortunately didn't get to use either water slide. DS10 did though and loved them both! The pool at POR was apparently not heated. That water was freezing. DH and I didn't even go in. The kids didn't last long. Okay, now I gave away the biggest "con" of POR! Boy, I just can't keep my mouth shut!! The OKW pool water was very comfortable. But with the crazy wind it was too cold to get out of the water and walk to the slide!

Welcome home Shelly!
Glad you had a great time...we're all looking forward to your reports!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to sharing our experience with all of you!

 

[JoBird]

So sorry you have the "I'm at home and not in Disney" blues.

We're very happy to have you back- we are all just in desperate need of a Disney fix- so you know we'll all be hanging onto your every word.
Like white on rice.
Like fleas on a dog.
Like stink on a ............. mutt.

You get the picture.

Now hurry up and do the so that you can and we can !!!!!

 

[NewCrew42]

Welcome back!!!



Now about this

Didn't you pack summer clothes?

Isn't it coolish in the burgh? Let the kids wear their winter clothes.

Just stick those summer clothes in a big ole garage bag and put 'em away in the basement. Dirty. You can wash those puppies in the spring!

Now on with the TR!!!!

 

[JoBird]

Welcome back!!!



Now about this

Didn't you pack summer clothes?

Isn't it coolish in the burgh? Let the kids wear their winter clothes.

Just stick those summer clothes in a big ole garage bag and put 'em away in the basement. Dirty. You can wash those puppies in the spring!

Now on with the TR!!!!

Like stink in a basement!!!!!!!!

On with the show!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Welcome home Shelly! Can't wait to hear all about the trip including the pros and cons of each resort.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

So sorry you have the "I'm at home and not in Disney" blues.

We're very happy to have you back- we are all just in desperate need of a Disney fix- so you know we'll all be hanging onto your every word.
Like white on rice.
Like fleas on a dog.
Like stink on a ............. mutt.

You get the picture.

Now hurry up and do the so that you can and we can !!!!!

I'm here I'm here!!

What would you like to talk about???

It may be a few days until I get all my pictures edited and in order to start my reports, but we can still chat until then!

Welcome back!!!



Now about this

Didn't you pack summer clothes?

Isn't it coolish in the burgh? Let the kids wear their winter clothes.

Just stick those summer clothes in a big ole garage bag and put 'em away in the basement. Dirty. You can wash those puppies in the spring!

Now on with the TR!!!!

Believe it or not I am actually on my LAST LOAD OF LAUNDRY!! I am amazed by all that I have accomplished this morning. Especially considering that I couldn't sleep last night. Couldn't get to sleep, then when I did I was having crazy post Disney dreams. Don't even remember them now. I just remember they were crazy!

Welcome home Shelly! Can't wait to hear all about the trip including the pros and cons of each resort.

Thanks Lisa! I will probably do the resort reviews first.

 

[JoBird]

Okay, whew. Glad you're here.

I'm getting ready to run to Office Max, but I'll start a list of things I want to know about.


Just rememeber- you asked what I wanted to talk about... you've been gone a long time......





Um- first- buses at POR- were they terrible? I know you were worried about that.

OKW- was it even a bit as pretty as we thought it was?
Your Transfer--- was it bad?
Did you have a lot of Dole Whips?
Did you make it onto HM??????? Inquiring minds want to know.

Did you eat at Casey's again?
Did you make it to Cosmic Ray's??
Beaches and Cream????
BRG??????????????????
Was CP dirty?? I read it had gone downhill!!!!!

Would you say you think WL is a like/love/or just okay-- won't stay there???

Was WC a hit or a miss?

Did you go into Stave Church in Epcot?????? (My favorite place ever...)

Did Epcot say it misses me????????? Did it ask about me by name???


Okay, I know a lot of ?'s but I have more-- I wan to know it alllllllll, you know that.

Have to go now, but----
I'll be back in a jiffy corn popcorn flash.





Jo

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Okay JO, well I sure asked for that one didn't I???!

Let's see. . . . .

The POR buses were not terrible. Not even close. Not super fantastic, but still very good. Very crowded though. Had to stand about 3-4 times. But the buses usually came within about 5-15 minutes. There were only a few times that is was 20-25.

OKW - very beautiful and tropical. Loved the feel and the room. Hated the room location. Furthest building out, right by the highway. Had to take a bus to swim. Could have walked it I guess, would have been a good 15 minutes, maybe 20. Didn't sound or look appealing after being wet and in that crazy wind. That resort is HUGE. And people say CBR is huge. I don't get it. The furthest building out at CBR is maybe an 8 minute walk to the pool. Just laid out very differently I guess. Imagine CBR without the bridge and how far you would have to walk around the lake to get to the pool from the opposite side. That's what OKW was like.

The transfer went great. We spent about an hour packing up the night before. Got up early and packed the rest of the stuff and went to bell services where they called us a cab. Cab fare - $5.50! OKW is right down the road from POR. We were there in a flash. Our room was ready. They took us there in a golf cart type vehicle and we dropped off the bags and were off to our breakfast and then DHS.

Yes we rode HM - twice! The kids loved it!

And of course we ate at Casey's again. Ate at Cosmic Ray's too. Not overly impressed there. No B&C. Maybe next time. Ate at BRG, loved it again! Didn't make it to CP or San Angel. More on that later. WCC stunk!! Gross! But the kids had a blast and thought the whole ketchup thing was hilarious.

Don't think I made it to Stave Church in Epcot. Where is it? But yes, Epcot misses you and says you need to get your BEHIND there very soon!

 

[drakes]

Okay JO, well I sure asked for that one didn't I???!

Let's see. . . . .

The POR buses were not terrible. Not even close. Not super fantastic, but still very good. Very crowded though. Had to stand about 3-4 times. But the buses usually came within about 5-15 minutes. There were only a few times that is was 20-25.

OKW - very beautiful and tropical. Loved the feel and the room. Hated the room location. Furthest building out, right by the highway. Had to take a bus to swim. Could have walked it I guess, would have been a good 15 minutes, maybe 20. Didn't sound or look appealing after being wet and in that crazy wind. That resort is HUGE. And people say CBR is huge. I don't get it. The furthest building out at CBR is maybe an 8 minute walk to the pool. Just laid out very differently I guess. Imagine CBR without the bridge and how far you would have to walk around the lake to get to the pool from the opposite side. That's what OKW was like.

The transfer went great. We spent about an hour packing up the night before. Got up early and packed the rest of the stuff and went to bell services where they called us a cab. Cab fare - $5.50! OKW is right down the road from POR. We were there in a flash. Our room was ready. They took us there in a golf cart type vehicle and we dropped off the bags and were off to our breakfast and then DHS.

Yes we rode HM - twice! The kids loved it!

And of course we ate at Casey's again. Ate at Cosmic Ray's too. Not overly impressed there. No B&C. Maybe next time. Ate at BRG, loved it again! Didn't make it to CP or San Angel. More on that later. WCC stunk!! Gross! But the kids had a blast and thought the whole ketchup thing was hilarious.

Don't think I made it to Stave Church in Epcot. Where is it? But yes, Epcot misses you and says you need to get your BEHIND there very soon!

I love the feedback - It's always nice to hear other peoples impressions. We drove around OKW on the bus once trying to get to DTD. It is large but very beautiful!

I was also hoping for a San Angel review... oh well I understand why you may have said no to it

Yippee for HM!!! Love that ride - it's my favorite Isn't the hitchhiker the best! I'll never forget my skin tingles when I rode that when I was 4 or 5 years old!

Ok- I'll let you get back to writing those TR and sorting photos...