August 2024 first trip with a kiddo … Down in Port Orleans! UPDATED 8/18

[MrsK53113]

I'm joining in! We stayed in a royal room last year and LOVED it! I know this will be special!

and thanks for following along!! I'm so glad to hear you loved your room! I'm excited to surprise my daughter. I can't wait to see her face, lol.

Can I ask which bus stop you found most convenient over in the mansion section? I don't love the idea of an inner bus loop in the resort and it will be a new experience for me. I've never stayed at a resort with one before. Any tips would be great!

 

[MrsK53113]

Hooray for double digits! It’s so exciting to hit countdown milestones when you’ve been waiting and planning for so long!

YAY for Tiana’s! I thought of you when I saw the opening date - I’m thrilled you’ll get a chance to ride your favorite attraction!

Super cute dresses! I think those will work very well for MNNSHP. I think you made the right call switching out the Tiana dress - those poofy princess dresses are beautiful but they’re not super soft and comfy.

I don't know what it is about double digits that just make our trip seem a lot closer than it was before, lol. I can't believe we're almost halfway through May already! Your trip is even closer and I can't wait to hear your TR about it when you all get back!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I know you asked @kclark9830 about the bus stops, but I thought I’d add my two cents. We stayed at Riverside in the Magnolia Bend/mansions area (but not the royal rooms) back in 2016. We were closest to and used the North Depot stop, but you’ll likely be closer to either the East Depot (if in Oak Manor) or South Depot (if in Parterre Place).

Bus service at Riverside had its issues, but we never had trouble getting onto a bus (or onto a seat) as the North stop was the second resort stop. The South Depot is in front of the main building and is both the busiest and last bus stop. If you’re heading to the park, I’d aim for the East Depot over the South Depot for that reason, but depending on what time you’re heading to the park it may be less of an issue.

 

[MrsK53113]

I know you asked @kclark9830 about the bus stops, but I thought I’d add my two cents. We stayed at Riverside in the Magnolia Bend/mansions area (but not the royal rooms) back in 2016. We were closest to and used the North Depot stop, but you’ll likely be closer to either the East Depot (if in Oak Manor) or South Depot (if in Parterre Place).

Bus service at Riverside had its issues, but we never had trouble getting onto a bus (or onto a seat) as the North stop was the second resort stop. The South Depot is in front of the main building and is both the busiest and last bus stop. If you’re heading to the park, I’d aim for the East Depot over the South Depot for that reason, but depending on what time you’re heading to the park it may be less of an issue.

Thank you!! And that surprises me that the South Depot bus stop is the last and not the first, since it's the front of the resort. Maybe I'll try to request the Oak Manor building to be closer to the East Depot.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Thank you!! And that surprises me that the South Depot bus stop is the last and not the first, since it's the front of the resort. Maybe I'll try to request the Oak Manor building to be closer to the East Depot.

It doesn't really make sense to me either, but CSR worked the same way. Based on a Google search it seems to still be the case. I think Oak Manor would be a good choice, especially since you'd also be closer to the Ol' Man Island pool complex!

 

[kclark9830]

Thank you!! And that surprises me that the South Depot bus stop is the last and not the first, since it's the front of the resort. Maybe I'll try to request the Oak Manor building to be closer to the East Depot.

Yes, we used the East depot and never had any bus issues. The inner bus loop never bothered us. We've also stayed at CBR and didn't mind it there either.

 

[mkmomto2]

I love the Tiana dress you chose! My husband and I stayed at Riverside several years ago and did not have any issues with the buses either. The bus stops were different at Coronado too. Bus stop 2 was the first one and Grand Destino was last

 

[MrsK53113]

I love the Tiana dress you chose! My husband and I stayed at Riverside several years ago and did not have any issues with the buses either. The bus stops were different at Coronado too. Bus stop 2 was the first one and Grand Destino was last

Thank you! DD7 loves the dress and the best part... it's comfortable enough that she wears it around the house playing and lounging!

I feel much better about the inner bus loop after hearing it's not as bad as I was thinking. Thanks!

 

[SoloStitchGirl]

This is fantastic! Port Orleans is awesome and gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to hearing about MNSSHP!

 

[MrsK53113]

It's been a hot minute since I last left off!!

TODAY IS ADR DAY!!!​

I had a calendar event all set on my phone to get my butt up and outta bed to be on my laptop making reservations right at 6 am!! Well.... you know what they say about the best laid plans. I got a smartwatch recently and had it on sleep mode. APPARENTLY when my watch is in sleep mode my phone automatically goes into do not disturb mode

I didn't get up (in a panic) until after my 6:30 alarm went off and I laid in bed wishing I could just go back to sleep when it hit me and remembered what today is! UGH. I jumped up out of bed so quick and rushed to my laptop.

No time for sipping my delicious coffee while watching the clock get closer to 6 to refresh my page and have a decent pick of time slots. NO. At 6:41 this morning I was panic clicking all the buttons . Hot mess express, ticket for one, right here!

I really only had 2 must-get reservations: a Lilo & Stitch breakfast, and a princess meal.

First and most important and most difficult to get: 'Ohana. There was ONLY one time slot left for breakfast and it was at 12:10pm on our last full day of the trip. I told myself I'LL MAKE IT WORK! So I snagged it quick, fast, and in a hurry.

The second one I had been debating in my head for WEEKS. After a YouTube video (by @BekahHart‬ & @thepixiedustedmom‬) and an awesome honest review by @Newsies on her latest May TR, I finally decided to go with a late breakfast at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian resort. My DD7 loves Tiana and I really think she'll enjoy getting to meet her in her Bayou Adventure outfit!

And because I can't help myself (aka FOMO) I also booked us MNSSHP - Fireworks Dessert w/Plaza Garden Viewing.

I'm honestly not sure how this will go. Magic Kingdom rope drop (hopeful snag a LL for TBA ), 1900 Park Fare breakfast, MNSSHP AND the Fireworks Dessert all on the same day?? It seems like a lot for my kiddo. But hopefully a nice long resort break with a little swimming in the afternoon will help set her up for an evening full of fun.

We don't have park hoppers, so we're sticking with only one park per day. (Well, minus our first day - we're going to Typhoon Lagoon in the morning then EPCOT in the evening.) Our second day is what I have planned for our Magic Kingdom day (based on touring plans crowd calendar for lowest crowd days), so it just works out that Magic Kingdom day is going to be BUSY. I have plans for us to have a later start our third day/ Hollywood Studios day.

So quick reminder of our plans:

Sunday - travel day, LATE arrival (our airline keeps pushing our arrival time later and later and now it's looking like a 9:00pm arrival, UGH)

Monday - day 1: Typhoon Lagoon am / EPCOT pm

Tuesday - day 2: Magic Kingdom - EE/rope drop, 1900 Park Fare "breakfast" at 11:45am, SWIM BREAK, then MNSSHP w/ fireworks dessert party

Wednesday - day 3: Hollywood Studios, SWIM BREAK, back to HS in the evening (I love a ToT ride in the dark!)

Thursday - day 4: TDB, 12:10 "breakfast" at 'Ohana

Friday: travel home day, 3:10pm flight, Mears is picking us up at 11:50am​

I'm honestly not sure what to do on Thursday. I feel like DD7 is going to need a break. So this can be a resort morning, or resort hopping morning, or Disney Springs shopping morning, then head to the Poly for our ADR time. We can go back to one of the other parks for rides we missed or rides we want to ride again. I'm leaving this open for now and letting DD7 decide on that day what she wants to do.

ANYHOO.... ADR's acquired!! 60 days until our Disney trip and I am sooooo stinking excited! The only left to do is to start purchasing things off my Amazon wish list of things needed for the trip. I have way too many cute outfit pieces already purchased, so we're good there. I also bought some custom made ears from ETSY. That will be a whole separate post with lots of pics coming up soon!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[MrsK53113]

I just read online about the new changes to Genie+!! I'm so excited!!

On Disney Parks blog they have a new post:​

Plan Ahead with Lightning Lane Entry at Walt Disney World Starting July 24.​

The Disney planner in me is so freaking excited!

It's basically a toned down version of FastPass+. Instead of 30 days in advance, they are only offering 7 days (for their entire stay- up to 14 days) for those staying on Disney resorts, and other select hotels. 3 days in advance for everyone else. But this makes me so happy!

The only downside is that I now have to come up with a solid plan for our last park day. Currently I had a 'wake up and choose what to do' day, but now if I want to get some advanced LL's on our last day, I'll need a plan.

And since we're talking about plans... I've been looking at my trip planning spreadsheets and I'm playing around with switching my half day at EPCOT and full day at Hollywood Studios. We have the water park option with 4 days of park tickets: Monday through Thursday, one park per day and we're not planning to go to Animal Kingdom. We aren't staying long enough to have a rest day built in. Instead, we're taking a rest in the middle of the day, each day.

I currently have Typhoon Lagoon in the morning/early afternoon (about 10a - 2p) on the first day. That isn't changing. I have an evening at EPCOT (~5-9) the first day and I have Hollywood Studios on our third day (a few morning hours, then mid-day break, then the evening back in the park). I'm waffling back and forth on switching the two parks and have EPCOT as our full park day. I just feel like there's a lot more for DD7 to do at EPCOT compared to Hollywood Studios. I don't have any ADR's either day, so it really could go either way.

I have 54 days until we leave for vacation which means I have 47 days to finalize our plans now that we can book Lightening Lanes!!! Ahhh.... did I mention how excited I am about this?!!!

 

[Lynne G]

Joining.

We used to travel the last two weeks of August when my oldest started elementary school, as the summer camp my two kids went to, ended the second week of August, and like your kid, as we are in the Philly area too, didn’t start school until after Labor Day. We also found it was oh so hot, but much lower crowds.

As my kids are in their 20’s now, I got my youngest to take off work and join me the week before. Love the summer events there, and to enjoy pool time, and the wet rides, more. We fly out of PHL, but have flown out of ABE once in a great while, as my DSis lives very close to it. And parking there is much cheaper than PHL. But almost always, we get a drop off and pick up from a family member willing to do so, even with our crack of dawn flights.

 

[mkmomto2]

I just read online about the new changes to Genie+!! I'm so excited!!

I, too, am so excited! I love pre-planning as much as possible!

 

[MrsK53113]

I, too, am so excited! I love pre-planning as much as possible!

YES!! And your trip is right before mine, so I'm really excited to read about your process (if you choose to share that, lol) and hopefully pick up some tips

 

[piglet1979]

I was excited to hear this change too as I am such a planner.

I am not an EPCOT fan. There is a lot to do but other then the 3 rides in World Showcase I could avoid that all together but my husband loves that area. So for me, I would do a half day at Epcot and the full day at HS. Lines seemed to be longer as well at HS the last time we went but if you plan you LL's right you can avoid most lines in the afternoon (I stacked ours to be back to back in the afternoon). This made HS so much better. And now being able to book 3 ahead of time will make this even easier.

I am sure I didn't help any here. If you want to tour the countries then EPCOT for a full day might be better.

 

[mkmomto2]

YES!! And your trip is right before mine, so I'm really excited to read about your process (if you choose to share that, lol) and hopefully pick up some tips

I will try to remember to share! It's not that I don't want to, it is just that life happens and I am forgetful haha.

So for me, I would do a half day at Epcot and the full day at HS. Lines seemed to be longer as well at HS the last time we went but if you plan you LL's right you can avoid most lines in the afternoon (I stacked ours to be back to back in the afternoon). This made HS so much better. And now being able to book 3 ahead of time will make this even easier.

I agree with this. For EPCOT, if you can and want to do Lightning lanes for your half day, I still think you can get most, if not all, done in a half day. The countries would take longer, but I find that park to be the hottest and you are going in August, lol. HS has more attractions that garner longer waits in my opinion. Whichever you choose, you will have a great time though!

 

[cveeders]

Following! I'm going on a trip with my mom on August 12 and I'm SO excited. I'm 23 and "mom and me" trips are still so special, so I'm sure it will be so special for you and your kiddo too. We're staying at POFQ! Speaking of...

I’m most excited to try some GF beignets, offered at POFQ! There’s also a gluten free bakery in Disney Springs I’m looking forward to visiting; Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC

YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! My mom and I are Celiac and just the other day she was talking about how she loves POFQ but she wishes they had gluten free beignets. When I read this, I googled and then instantly called my mom to tell her and we're so excited to try them! Thank you for the tip!

 

[mkmomto2]

Following! I'm going on a trip with my mom on August 12 and I'm SO excited. I'm 23 and "mom and me" trips are still so special, so I'm sure it will be so special for you and your kiddo too. We're staying at POFQ! Speaking of...

YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER! My mom and I are Celiac and just the other day she was talking about how she loves POFQ but she wishes they had gluten free beignets. When I read this, I googled and then instantly called my mom to tell her and we're so excited to try them! Thank you for the tip!

Have you tried the gluten free churros at Nomad Lounge? They are delicious!

 

[lankman]

The evening star is shining bright ….. So make a wish and hold on tight ….. There’s magic in the air tonight …. And anything can happen

… Down in New Port Orleans!​

Hi there! I have been a LOOOOOOONG time lurker, and I absolutely love and appreciate all the Trip Reports (and pre-trip reports as well!) I’ve been reading to help me plan and just for funsies to get my Disney fix. I was inspired to try my hand at doing my very own pre-trip report. I’m planning this mostly by myself, so some feedback would be helpful but also, I just need to get all this noise out of my head . I am an over-planner, over-worrier, over-thinker about everything. I love to plan and am an Excel nerd, so you bet your butt I have multiple spreadsheets for this trip .

I’m going to try to sprinkle in a few pics so you don’t get a wall of text … sorry I can get really wordy!

Ok, so! Introductions, right?!

WHO
Me: K, 37 years old, avid Disney fan and planner extraordinaire.
View attachment 848567
Favorite ride: Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror
Favorite Movie: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast
New experience most excited for: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy: CR, RotR

DD: 7 years old, never been to Disney, but so excited to go!
View attachment 848568
Favorite movie: The Princess and the Frog
Character most excited to meet: Tiana
Ride most excited to try: Tiana’s Bayou Adventure (seeing the pattern yet?)

That’s it. It’s just the two of us. To be fair, it’s almost always the two of us. Despite my username (thanks DIS boards for not letting us change usernames from when we were young and dumb about picking names that will stick with us for decades!!) I am no longer a Mrs. and the last time I was in Disney was TEN YEARS AGO, for an ill-fated honeymoon. It was NOT the best trip I’d been on, but that’s a story for another time (spoiler: his family joined us for our honeymoon ).

I grew up going to Disney for almost annual vacations since I was 6 years old until I was almost 20. We stayed off property for the first trip, learned from our mistakes and stayed on property the rest of our vacays. Mostly at Pop Century, All Stars, and a random stay at CBR. My honeymoon was a not-so-enjoyable stay at BWV in 2014. That was the last time I vacationed at Disney and I’m so excited to see how much has changed!

View attachment 848572
This is me and my twin when we were younger at some of the All Star's hotels. Sorry for the crappy quality… it’s a picture of a picture!

WHEN

Sunday August 18th – Friday August 23rd, 2024: 5 nights with a 4-day, 1 park with water park option ticket.

My kiddo is 7 and in school September through June. I did NOT want to go in holiday crowds, so summer it is! We’re lucky enough that her school district doesn’t start until after Labor Day, in September. We’re hoping to vacation with hopefully lower crowds since a lot of schools go back mid-late August.

WHERE

Port Orleans Riverside, in a river view Royal Room. DD7's love of Tiana / The Princess and the Frog is why I chose this resort and specifically this room type. I can’t wait to see her face when we first get into the room. I’ve kept this a secret from her and I’m so excited to see if she loves it!

View attachment 848574 View attachment 848575
I've never stayed here, but this resort has always been on my bucket list. I grabbed some screenshots from the Disney website.

WHY?

A very delayed birthday trip for DD7. My mom has a tradition she started with my twin sister’s firstborn, that when a grandchild turns 5, they are gifted a trip to Disney. That’s around the age when we started going as kids and my mom wanted to continue that with her grandkids. We had a big family trip planned for my nephews 5th birthday trip ….. in April 2020, but we all know what happened. Womp womp. We have never actually rescheduled the big family trip for a few reasons. We didn’t like all the changes made during the pandemic and have been trying to wait them out thinking things would hopefully go back to the way they used to be (DME, FP+, etc..) but no dice. My parents have also had various health issues and surgeries, so they aren’t ready to do a Disney trip. If they do decide to ever go back it will be just to hang by the pools or Disney Springs. They just can’t get around like they used to. My sister has 4 kids and money is tight, so they can’t come with us either this year. We’ve done a quick summer vacation with my sister’s family to Hershey Park two summers ago and it was a LOT. I’m used to only one kiddo. I don’t know how she manages to do it with four!!

This is a long awaited, not quite once-in-a-lifetime, but hopefully a really fun and memorable trip for me and my daughter.

This trip will be filled with a LOT of firsts for both me and DD7. My DD7 has never been but has been begging to go for the last two years. And as I've mentioned I haven't been in TEN years . It’s finally time!

Ok, I think that’s a LOT of info out of the way. Up next: actual plans! Or just more head noise - TBD

(I hope I'm doing this right so far)

Great start to a pe trip report, love the background story & I am confident you guys will have an amazing time. Great tradition your mum started.