A Tale As Old As Time - POR Sept '13

[littlelovebug]

Hello DIS friends!

I’m dusting off my keyboard and trying my hand at another PTR! It’s been over three years since I started my last one, so I’ll just go through the introductions again.

This is me…Jen (33) and DH…Jed (34).



I’m still happily married to my high school sweetheart. We honeymooned in Disney in September of 2003, so of course we’re going back to celebrate our Ten Year Anniversary this fall! I’m coming up on my sixteen year anniversary at Target. In addition to my beautiful daughter, I am now also the proud mommy of a squishy baby boy! This doesn’t leave a lot of free time, but I am doing as much photography as possible.

Since my last PTR, DH selflessly sold his big Dodge truck so we could pay off my vehicle, and switched from Home A/V to Commercial A/V. We bought a house in foreclosure a little over two years ago, and it's been a lot of work. Luckily he and my dad are EXTREMELY handy and have tackled all but the biggest projects!

Here’s our little love bug DD…Princess Jilly (7).



She is super smart (reading at a fourth grade level!) and super silly too! She does gymnastics and also participated in the running club at her school this year. This past Spring she got to run the final mile of the Flying Pig Marathon in downtown Cincinnati! She gets to celebrate her UN-Birthday (half birthday) in Epcot!

And now we proudly introduce our DS…Squishy Jax (1)!



He has the MOST contagious smile and flirts with almost every female he sees. He was born a little over a month premature, but he definitely caught up quickly. He’s just starting to walk and find his independence. His grandpa is his hero, especially when he brings over a dump truck full of dirt for our yard!! He will be almost 19 mos when we visit WDW.

So, as I stated earlier, we are visiting WDW to celebrate our Ten Year Anniversary. As an added bonus, my best friend decided she and her family would join us! She’s really more like a sister to me, so I’m beyond excited to be planning a trip with her. Here is a picture of us at the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo:



I’ll try to convince her to co-write my PTR and let her introduce her “cast of characters.” She will be joined by her husband, two children, and parents. This might be a little bit of a spoiler, but we’re most excited because we’ll be eating dinner in the Beast’s castle…hence the title of my PTR!

We recently found out that my dad and stepmom are going to stay in Orlando around the same time and will be joining us for part of our trip!

We might ALSO meet up with my babysitter and her family at some point. They decided to vacation at the same time as us to make childcare arrangements easier, and once free dining was released for September, they decided to book at Coronado Springs!

Coming soon...details of our trip!

 

[spiritsim]

Are you from Ohio? we live in Findlay just below Toledo. Going to the world for our first time oct 2014. And staying at the POR. Following along

 

[littlelovebug]

Are you from Ohio? we live in Findlay just below Toledo. Going to the world for our first time oct 2014. And staying at the POR. Following along

Yes! We live in Cincinnati!

I'm so excited for you! Here's a dancing banana for your first trip. If you're here on the DIS, then you're one step closer to a perfect trip! I have learned so much. You will NOT regret staying at POR! We stayed there on our last trip and fell in love!! Make sure you check out the POR thread if you haven't already done so!

Thanks for following along!

 

[littlelovebug]

Now that you know WHY we’re travelling (like anyone needs an excuse to visit Mickey), let me tell you some of the details!

We’ll be visiting Port Orleans Riverside from September 18 -25, 2013. Amy will be travelling and leaving one day earlier. She is planning on requesting a mansion room in Magnolia Bend, but we’re going for a room in Alligator Bayou. We stayed in Building 18 in 2010 and really loved it! That building is now considered preferred, and we only booked standard, so I’m just going to request a second floor room as close to the main building as possible.

Thanks to the DIS, I know how to do that!

Here is our basic itinerary for the week:

Wednesday, 9/18 : We will leave CVG and arrive at MCO late morning and take ME to POR. We’ll meet up with Amy & crew at MK. We’ll take the monorail to have dinner at Chef Mickey’s and return to MK for Wishes. **Sidenote – does anyone know why websites like touringplans.com are showing the time for Wishes as 8:00 PM if the park closes at 9:00 PM?**

Thursday 9/19: Amy’s family will go to AK. Our family will go to EP for rope drop. We’ll spend the day in Future World, with lunch at Sunshine Seasons and dinner at Garden Grill. My dad and stepmom will meet us at EP at some point, but won’t be dining at GG with us. We’ll spend the evening at POR, possibly meeting up with Amy’s family in DTD.

Friday 9/20: We’ll have a later start and head to EP for an early lunch at San Angel Inn, then spend some time in the World Showcase. After 4PM we’ll head to MNSSHP with Amy’s family and my dad and stepmom. We ALSO discovered my aunt and uncle and their kids and grandkids will be there at the same time!! Our plan is to have dinner at Pecos Bill’s. We’ll stay for the Boo To You parade and Hallowishes. Hopefully all of the kids will make it until close without a major meltdown…

Saturday 9/21: We’ll sleep in after MNSSHP and head to EP with Amy’s family for a late brunch at Akershus. We’ll meet up with my dad and stepmom and spend some time hitting any attractions we haven’t seen yet (and revisit some favorites). We’ll probably take a dinner break at POR and head back to EP for Illuminations.

Sunday 9/22: We’ll head to DHS before they open and hit as many attractions as we can in the morning. We were planning on having lunch at Studio Catering Co and hanging out at the HISTK playground, but the playground is going to be closed for refurbishment! We might get lunch at Starring Rolls instead. We’ll see the Stunt Show and then decide if we need a break or not. Our family has dinner reservations at 50’s Prime Time Café, and then we’ll meet back up to see Fantasmic!

Monday 9/23: We will head to MK with Amy’s family for rope drop. Our family will then hop on the monorail and head to ‘Ohana for a late breakfast. We’ll then meet back up with Amy’s family in MK. We’ll take a mid-day break (if we need it), and then go back to MK for dinner at Be Our Guest!!! We’ll be celebrating our Ten Year Anniversary here (our actual anniversary is on 9/6, but we’ll be at my cousin’s rehearsal dinner that night). We’ll finish the night by watching the Electrical Street Parade.

Tuesday 9/24: Amy’s family will be leaving this day, so our family will head to AK before opening. We’ll have brunch at Tusker House and stay until we see everything, or the park closes…whichever comes first. We’ll take the ferry from POR to DD later that evening and have dinner at WPE or EoS.

Wednesday 9/25: Our original plan was to hit MK for a couple of hours in the morning, but the airline was nice enough to change us to an earlier flight, so we won’t have time. Oh well, we can’t really complain! We’ll just hang around and enjoy POR until ME comes to pick us up and take us to MCO! We should be home in time for dinner. Then the fun part will be getting Princess Jilly to go to bed and get up for school the next morning!

 

[spiritsim]

Sounds busy but lots of fun. we will stay in a RR at POR. I fell in love with the headboards, used to go to a restaurant in Vegas that had fireworks that went up the walls ....lol and a singing tree like the enchanted tiki room. Japanese place in the Hilton hotel can't remember the name.lol

 

[littlelovebug]

Sounds busy but lots of fun. we will stay in a RR at POR. I fell in love with the headboards, used to go to a restaurant in Vegas that had fireworks that went up the walls ....lol and a singing tree like the enchanted tiki room. Japanese place in the Hilton hotel can't remember the name.lol

I have never heard anyone complain about the RR! I bet those headboards are amazing! I'm hoping my friend will get a little pixie dust and get upgraded to a RR so we can check it out!

We like the theming of AB since it's more subdued...it's like a break from intensity of the parks.

 

[littlelovebug]

10 more days until we can do Online Check-in! I wish I knew if we were going to get MagicBands or Fastpass Plus!

 

[spiritsim]

Ok how does online check in work and do you need to do it if you have a travel agent?

 

[littlelovebug]

Ok how does online check in work and do you need to do it if you have a travel agent?

Hmmmm...I'm not sure if you need to do it if you have a travel agent, but I would definitely ask them. At the 60 day mark, you can give all the information that you would when checking into the hotel, such as credit card information for charging to your room, and then you get to go to a separate line (which is typically much shorter and moves faster). It's all about getting those precious minutes in on your first day.

 

[littlelovebug]

For this trip, my friend and I are considering purchasing Photopass Plus. If I understand correctly, we can purchase one "Plus" and use regular Photopass cards for the rest of our party. If we're not together for certain rides, we can bring the Plus card back to have the pictures loaded to our account. Has anyone tried this?

I really love the Photopass service. On our last trip (Jilly's first, in 2010), I took over 2000 pictures with my camera, and had about 200 on our Photopass account. The best part is that we have pictures of the entire family that we really love!

Here are a few of our favorites:

Our first day, at the Flower & Garden Festival in Epcot




Day two, at the Animal Kingdom (in our Mickey tie dye shirts)




Day three, at BBB/Magic Kingdom




Belle loved that we brought her "story" for her to autograph




Day four, at Hollywood Studios with my mom


We matched the background in this one!




Day five, back in MK






With a Dole Whip!


Our last day, back in EP




The last meet & greet before we left...

 

[spiritsim]

I have read you get a discount if you purchase your photopass ahead of time, its like 20 dollars savings
Those are wonderfull pics!!

 

[littlelovebug]

I have read you get a discount if you purchase your photopass ahead of time, its like 20 dollars savings
Those are wonderfull pics!!

Yes that is definitely our plan! I need to add that to my list of things to do so I don't forget! The nice part about co-planning a trip is that we can help remind each other of things.

Thanks so much for the compliment! We really were happy with our pictures last time, and since we pre-purchased we also got the hard-bound book. It is super cute and we look at it all the time!

 

[littlelovebug]

So as you saw previously, here is our plan for Day 1:

We will leave CVG and arrive at MCO late morning and take ME to POR. We’ll meet up with Amy & crew at MK. We’ll take the monorail to have dinner at Chef Mickey’s and return to MK for Wishes.

I'm happy that we were able to get a late morning flight, so we don't have to get up too early. We flew out of Dayton last time (because we lived closer and it's typically cheaper) but now that we live in Cincinnati, we wanted to fly out of Greater Cincinnati Airport. Which is in Northern Kentucky...

I was really happy to find tickets on Delta's website for a non-stop flight that only ended up costing us about $200 per person. Jax won't need a ticket since he's under 2. Our actual ticket cost was about $650, but I signed up for the Delta AMEX and got a $50 statement credit. We also get our first checked bag for each ticketed passenger for free when we use the card. Huge savings! I'm hoping we can get someone to drive us to the airport too, so we don't have to pay for parking. My mom is moving back to Ohio next month after living in Texas for ten years...hmmm...

Anyway, we will arrive in Orlando before lunch, so I'm hoping to get to POR on ME very quickly. Last time we walked right onto the bus, with cast members standing there waving at us as we zoomed through the line!

We chose POR the last time we stayed in Disney because the theming was so subdued and relaxing. We figured it would be a nice break from the stimulation of the parks. We absolutely fell in love with the resort and our room (Alligator Bayou, Building 18), so there was really no question about where we wanted to stay this time. Now that the rooms have all been remodeled, we're even more excited. We only paid for standard this time, so I'm just going to request top floor, close to pool and main building, and see what we get. Honestly, if we get a parking lot view at the back of the resort, I won't complain.

I'm not sure when or where we'll eat lunch. It just depends on what time we get to POR I guess...

Our plan once we arrive at the resort is to drop off our bags (if our room is ready - if not we'll leave our carry-on with bell services and trust ME to get our luggage to our room) and then head straight to MK! We're dying to check out the new Fantasyland! We tried to get reservations for BOG this night, but had no luck. Actually, when my friend Amy called the day before I did (since she checks in a day earlier), she wasn't able to find ANYTHING at BOG. On my 180 day mark, I was playing around on the computer trying to make some ADR's before the phone line opened up. A lot of places would let me start to make a reservation, but then fail after I entered my CC information. Somehow the only reservation I could get to go through all the way was a table for 6 at BOG on Monday 9/23. When I finally got through to a cast member on the phone, she was able to find a second reservation for 4 people (nothing was available for 10) and add it to my account. She said once we get there we can ask at the podium to be seated together. Hopefully this is true!!!

Anyway...back to Fantasyland...I'm hoping that with the low crowds (1.1 out of 10 according to touringplans.com) we can hit as many attractions as possible and still be able to hop the monorail to the Contemporary for our Chef Mickey's dinner...and watch Wishes too! Some of our must-see attractions are Enchanted Tales with Belle, It's a Small World, Mad Tea Party, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel, and Under the Sea! Jilly actually did NOT like the Dumbo ride last time (she said Daddy made it go too high...) or Mickey's PhilharMagic, so we might skip those this time. Space Mountain will be closing for refurbishment later in our trip, so we'll probably try to ride that too. I'm hoping my chicken little will be brave enough to ride!!

At some point, we MUST meet Ariel, Tiana, Rapunzel and Merida. We love the other princesses too, but we at least got to meet them last time. Tangled and Brave weren't even out yet, and we never got to see Tiana and Ariel. Any tips on how to see these lovely ladies would be much appreciated. I know the information is out there somewhere...

We'll head back to POR after Wishes ends, which I'm sure will take quite a while. I'm hoping we can at least be in bed by 10:30pm (Wishes starts at 8pm, and the park closes at 9pm) because the next day I want to get to Epcot by the time they open at 9am! I'm sure everyone will sleep REALLY well after such a packed day!

 

[Dream426]

Joining in.

 

[spiritsim]

the WDW prep school site has a plan just for doing princess stuff and it tells you where you can find each princess

 

[littlelovebug]

Joining in.

Welcome!! I can't wait to read your PTR and TR!!

the WDW prep school site has a plan just for doing princess stuff and it tells you where you can find each princess

Thanks! I have never heard of that! Heading there now!!!

 

[LB1122]

Looks like a very exciting trip. We are headed to PORS for Christmas this year so I can not wait to hear what you think of it this time around.

- Princess Meet & Greets are awesome but remember: at the MNSSHP - the princes are out with them so if you have not met them that is a great way to do so...Flynn Rider was a huge meet for us.

- It is my understanding standing the Naveen meets with Tiana in her spot behind the Christmas Store in Liberty Square but only after 5PM.


Very fun. I think I am going to need to start my own thread for our trip this is just too much fun.

 

[littlelovebug]

Looks like a very exciting trip. We are headed to PORS for Christmas this year so I can not wait to hear what you think of it this time around.

- Princess Meet & Greets are awesome but remember: at the MNSSHP - the princes are out with them so if you have not met them that is a great way to do so...Flynn Rider was a huge meet for us.

- It is my understanding standing the Naveen meets with Tiana in her spot behind the Christmas Store in Liberty Square but only after 5PM.


Very fun. I think I am going to need to start my own thread for our trip this is just too much fun.

Oh wow! I would love to go to Disney for Christmas, but it's nearly impossible for me to get off work around the holidays! You should definitely start a PTR because I want to follow along!

Thanks for the tip about the MNSSHP. I didn't even think about finding the princesses there. We still have a full day in MK after that, so we could track them down if we don't see them at the party. I'm super excited to check out the party - I've heard such wonderful things about it!

We planned on seeing Tiana and Naveen in their spot the last time we visited but I think it was during our nap time...

 

[littlelovebug]

Before I start day 2, I wanted to add another detail for day 1. We are going to take Jax to the Harmony Barber Shop to get his first hair cut!! DH has been giving me a lot of grief over the length of his locks, but I'm insisting that we wait! Today at Whole Foods he pointed to a little kid and said, "That looks like Jaxon over there. Is it a boy or a girl. Oh, it's a girl..."

Anyway, on to the day 2 plans...

Amy and her family will be going to AK this day, and we are going to EP. This is her kids' first visit, so we wanted to give her family some special time together.

We are hoping to make it to EP before rope drop at 9AM. We'll begin touring the Future World attractions that we can all ride together. At some point we will be joined by my dad and stepmom, and then we can ride Test Track, Soarin' and Mission Space while our Squishy boy plays with his favorite person in the world (Grandpa). We will definitely ride Living with the Land, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Spaceship Earth. We'll probably pass on The Circle of Life this time (we saw it last time and really liked it, but it's not a must-do this time). I don't think I saw Captain EO when I was younger (or if I did, I don't remember). What are your opinions? I also don't ever remember doing Ellen's Energy Adventure on any past trips. I'm sure we'll check it out if we have time. We will absolutely go see Turtle Time with Crush. We were sooo amazed by this last time! Hopefully Jilly will get a good spot and not be too shy to interact with Crush. Another absolute MUST-DO is visiting the leaping water fountains outside the Captain EO theater. I remember being so amazed by them as a child, and Jilly really loved them on our last trip. I can't wait to see Jax's face!! My other favorite memory from EP is meeting Figment and the Dreamfinder. I don't know if we'll ride Journey Into Imagination this time (the train part is pretty scary for little ones) but we will play around in the Imagination Pavilion. Does anyone remember the big impression tables with the metal pinheads? You could run your hands under them and they were truly amazing? I wish they would bring back the Imagination Pavilion of the 80's...

Our lunch plan for this day is to visit Sunshine Seasons. This was our first meal on our last trip and we were really impressed. Everything was very tasty and the portions were very generous. I don't think I mentioned earlier that we have the free dining plan so we want to get the best use out of our dining credits. Jilly is not a big eater, so Jax will probably eat most of her meals.

After lunch we want to check out the Disney VISA Meet 'n Greet area in Innoventions West so we can get our free 5x7. Love those perks!

We have an early dinner ADR at the Garden Grill for the four of us. My dad and stepmom will either grab a quick bite somewhere else or head back to their hotel for a while. I'm really excited about this dinner for a couple of reasons. First, it has Chip & Dale! Somehow I failed to mention that Amy and I are going to each have a stuffed Chip and Dale, and we are going to take pictures of/with them throughout the trip. Second, Living with the Land is one of those rides that are weirdly a favorite for us. It will be so cool to be able to overlook the ride and eat some of the food that was harvested from it! This will be our first time eating here.

After dinner we will head back to POR. Depending on how everyone is feeling, we may meet up with Amy & crew in Downtown Disney later in the evening. We will have the Planet Hollywood $15 meal voucher and souvenir keepsake coupon from our Magic Your Way package, so I would really like to stop there for a drink or dessert. **Side note - I got my first credit card from this Planet Hollywood when I was 18. They were giving out free CD's if you signed up. I couldn't believe I actually got the card. I still have the account but don't really use it anymore. It switched over to Bank of America, so the card's not nearly as cool. LOL.**

Hopefully the ferry ride from POR will calm everyone down and we can snuggle up for a good night's rest! Another big day is coming up!!

 

[littlelovebug]

Hello out there! I'll post our plans for Day 3 as soon as possible...if anyone's still out there following along...

My traveling companion messaged me today in full freak out mode wondering if we're going to be ready for our trip in 53/54 days. Spoken like a true DISer.

I wanted to throw this in as a budget tip...

I have been paying for my trip by purchasing Disney gift cards at Target. I get a 10% discount for working there, but anyone can get a 5% discount by using a Target REDcard (credit or debit), and you can also earn additional 5% coupons by signing up for the Pharmacy rewards program. Who DOESN'T want to save an additional 5% or more on their trip?? Plus you can get that in combination with any of the other Disney promotions (like free dining)!! I just buy a few hundred dollars worth every time I get a Pharmacy rewards coupon, and it's saving me HUNDREDS of dollars on my trip! I'll have my trip 100% paid for at my 45 day mark without having to rack up any credit card debt, which is a huge relief. I will also purchase some extra gift cards to pay for things like MNSSHP tix, tips, alcohol, and souvenirs.

In other news, I just went back to work yesterday after a six day "staycation." During that time, we went to Kings Island (local amusement park), saw Turbo (loved it!) and did some shopping. We also had a blacktop driveway put in, a project that we've been wanting to do for a very long time. I also got to spend a little time with my younger brother, who is currently serving in the United States Marine Corps. He is stationed in Charleston, SC working as a corrections specialist at the brig, and I haven't seen him since we visited him in September. He was home on leave for almost a full two weeks, which was absolutely amazing. I'm so proud of him and it was a real blessing to get to see him!!

I'll post some pics soon!!