Beignets with a side of Butterbeer: An April 2013 PTR (Trip Report Link - 4/25)

[Duzzygirl]

...
Awww...poor guy. Maybe you should plan a trip to Universal, just so he can have one?

*sigh* If only. I doubt he'd want to take a whole other trip to FL for Universal. As this trip his Dad is footing the bill ... Tickets, dining plan, everything. I'd hate to take a day paid for at Disney to go pay for a Day at Universal.

 

[danceintherain]

HI Becca! G is getting so big and handsome!!! He's at such a fun age for Disney and is going to have such fun this trip! Hopefully he stays awake more than the last one!

I think we're going to have the opposite problem this time! He's probably going to be bouncing off the walls.

 

[danceintherain]

WHEN: April 13-20, 2013
We settled on these dates in part due to the fact that it’s my sister’s “Spring Break” but happens to be a week when not a lot of other people have Spring Break. It’s not my #1 choice for Disney touring times. It’s Regular season, instead of Value season. But I had a hard time nailing down dates during Value season this year, and if we go after July, we have to start paying for G.

It HAS occurred to me that we’re technically spending almost the same amount of money by taking my sister with us, but she’s (*cough*our parents are*cough*) paying for her transportation and ticket costs. We’re paying for her accommodations and food, which ends up being around half of her costs. She also carries the added bonus of being an adult who can watch G for us, so we can actually do stuff together. All four grandparents have full time jobs, so the window of opportunity in that respect is very small. We could do the summer, since my Mom’s a teacher, but it’s so hot. I’m sure at some point that’s what we’ll resort to, but for now April sounds lovely.

I’m also very excited about the Flower & Garden Festival. It will check another season at Disney off my list:
Christmas:

I don't have any season specific pictures from our New Year's trip, but I'm not hugely interested in returning during that time period. It. Was. Crowded.
Here's one from the only table service meal we did on the trip, because none of us knew that you really should book them 6 months in advance. The only thing that was available for our group was the earliest lunch ADR at Garden Grille (I don't think Garden Grille even serves lunch anymore)

Our last trip was during Food & Wine. I LOVED the concert series (Hanson) but we're not drinkers and the food was just ok for us. I didn't like how crowded Epcot was on those evenings. Although the rest of the parks were empty enough, and we didn't have a lot of interest in staying out late, since we were the sleep deprived parents of a 3 month old.

In the future, I hope to go during Star Wars Weekends, Halloween, and DH wants to actually run in the marathon (I conveniently kept the fact that it was happening during our honeymoon a secret).

Am I forgetting something? or should I say someTIME?

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I'd love to see Disney at Christmas. Maybe someday....

 

[danceintherain]

I'd love to see Disney at Christmas. Maybe someday....

It truly is quite lovely. I guess I do want to go back in early December, because while I've seen all of the park decorations, I really want to stay at the Wilderness Lodge at Christmastime.

 

[danceintherain]

In the past we’ve stayed in a Pool View Room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge

PROS:
- deluxe amenities
- interior walkways
- animals to see
- beautiful interior decorations
- very cozy feel
- right around the corner from AK
CONS:
- very confined (maybe now with Kidani that feeling has changed?)
- awful counter service selection
- expensive!
We would go back.

and a Standard Room at Caribbean Beach Resort

PROS:
- gorgeous landscaping with so many places to get “lost”
- very peaceful
- lovely beachy feel
- right around the corner from DHS (and probably Epcot, but we had the worst luck with Epcot buses while we were there – probably due to Food & Wine?)
- decent counter service selection
- inexpensive
CONS:
- exterior doors
- no elevators (we got around this by requesting and receiving a ground floor room)
- now the only moderate still with double sized beds (we paid for a king, so it wasn’t a big deal for us)
We would go back.

We also stayed in the Doubletree Guest Suites near Downtown Disney for our family trip a few years back. It was the closest I could get our parents to the actual Disney property. It was perfectly adequate and I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again if I was really trying to save money. The bus transportation wasn't as good as what you get on property, but it was there. It also was convenient to DTD. I linked my parents up with an excellent Mousesavers newsletter discount, so it was really a steal for a place that would sleep 6 so close to Disney.

I’m on a mission to stay at most of (the Values don’t appeal to me much) the Disney resorts, and the Moderates fit my budget nicely for now, so this time around we’re going with

Port Orleans – French Quarter!

There’s the added benefit of having queen beds, instead of doubles AND it will be nice being close to Downtown Disney for our non-park days. I’m also excited about the smallness of the resort. If we do share buses, we’ll be the first drop off and pick up. We also shouldn’t have that far of a walk to get back and forth to the food court, which should make food runs easy. The proximity to Riverside will hopefully alleviate some of that confined feeling we got at AKL.
My only request this time is a Corner Room for the extra light. We got one at CBR and I think that’s what made the room feel larger than the one we got at AKL.

This will be my sister’s first time staying on the property, and I think she’s going to love it.

 

[pwdebbie]

Well, don't count on the bus to always first drop off at POFQ. About the time you get on really needing to go to the bathroom, the driver will decide to do POR first. BTDT!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

POFQ is nice. We've never stayed there, but we've stayed at POR twice. The walk from POR to POFQ is nice! We walked there to get the delicious beignets! LOVE the boat to DTD.

 

[archdandy]

We've never stayed at POFQ but we did stay at POR last year and we walked over to POFQ. I loved having the river so close to the resort, it felt very peaceful. And it was really nice being able to take the boat to DTD. We used it a lot

 

[Iamthequeen]

Joining in!

Your trip sounds lovely! We've stayed at POFQ the last 2 times we've been and will be staying there again in September. I only ever remember the busses going to POR twice either time we were there, but it was during a Value time. Shouldn't really be much of an issue though.

I'd love to go during the Flower and Garden show, but it didn't work out this year with dh's work schedule. I'd also like to go to see the Christmas decorations, but I really love September at WDW!

My niece is going with her 10 month old in April - it will be his first trip to the World. Wish we could've gone with her!

 

[danceintherain]

Well, don't count on the bus to always first drop off at POFQ. About the time you get on really needing to go to the bathroom, the driver will decide to do POR first. BTDT!

lol...I'm sure that would be the way it worked for me too! However, if we had to, we could hop off at POR and use the facilities there.
At CBR we were all the way over in Barbados, and didn't really mind the extra walk. It's just not the most convenient thing, and 2 year olds are much less malleable than 3 month olds.

POFQ is nice. We've never stayed there, but we've stayed at POR twice. The walk from POR to POFQ is nice! We walked there to get the delicious beignets! LOVE the boat to DTD.

I'm really excited about the beignets!

We've never stayed at POFQ but we did stay at POR last year and we walked over to POFQ. I loved having the river so close to the resort, it felt very peaceful. And it was really nice being able to take the boat to DTD. We used it a lot

We've never spent that much time in DTD, so it will be interesting to see how having the boat there affects that. Even when we were at the Doubletree, we mostly just popped down to DTD to hop on the buses to go resort hopping at the Disney hotels.
It really depends on how much shopping we end up doing in the parks.

Joining in!

Your trip sounds lovely! We've stayed at POFQ the last 2 times we've been and will be staying there again in September. I only ever remember the busses going to POR twice either time we were there, but it was during a Value time. Shouldn't really be much of an issue though.

I'd love to go during the Flower and Garden show, but it didn't work out this year with dh's work schedule. I'd also like to go to see the Christmas decorations, but I really love September at WDW!

My niece is going with her 10 month old in April - it will be his first trip to the World. Wish we could've gone with her!

Buses at Disney don't really bother me, so I doubt I'll be bothered by them at POFQ. The buses definitely weren't the only reason we picked it!

I'm really excited about Flower & Garden, but now I'm worried that we're not going to be spending enough time at Epcot considering all the extra things to see.

 

[danceintherain]

I try not to plan too much. My basic strategy is wake up in time for Rope Drop (this shouldn’t be too hard considering G wakes up at around 6am every morning – if I adjust for the time difference, that will still force us out of bed around 7am in Florida, which should give us plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and make it to the parks by 9am). I always ask DH about Morning Extra Magic Hours, but he always says no. We may take turns going to Evening Extra Magic Hours though.
After 4-5 hours in the park of the day, we’ll leave for a break. This is DH’s main rule about going to Disney, and I’ve come to terms with the fact that I get less cranky if I get a little relax time, even if I don’t sleep. This trip will be a little different, because we don’t know how G will react. Luckily, we’ll have an extra adult, so we can take turns entertaining him should he decide that napping is not what he wants to do at that particular time. He’s still a fairly strong napper, so hopefully that lasts through April, but we’ll manage either way.

G and DH hanging out during some down time

The duration of our breaks varies. During most of our trips, the parks aren’t open very late, so oftentimes we don’t return in the evenings. This trip will be a little different, but I would like to keep to G’s bedtime as much as possible. This means being back to the resort by around 9pm Florida time. Although I expect that he’ll adjust to the time change by the end of the trip, I still haven’t decided if we’re going to stay for any of the fireworks. I guess we’ll just see how it goes. We may take turns going back, or staying, in the parks later, but since G’s wake up time is not really negotiable, I imagine we’ll all want to turn in fairly early.

Sunset over Caribbean Beach Resort

We’re taking advantage of the Armed Forces Salute this year, so we’ll be limited to 4 days in the Disney parks. I’m not thrilled about it, but it will help me refrain from over-planning. We have one full day with no park planned (only a meal) and one day at Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure (a first for all of us). We also won’t have the option of going to any parks on our arrival or departure days.

This is the plan for now:
Day 1 – April 13th: Our flight arrives at 1:30, so I expect to be checking in right around 3. Kami’s flight doesn’t get in until 7:30. We won’t have park admission this day, so what we do will depend on how we feel.
Day 2 – April 14th: We’re headed to Hollywood Studios first thing in the morning. We’ll also likely pick up our rental car this evening, if I can’t get a good enough rate to keep it longer (more on that later).
Day 3 – April 15th: Universal’s Islands of Adventure. DH and I may check into a separate hotel this evening, so we can take advantage of having a built in babysitter. I haven’t figured out where yet.
Day 4 – April 16th: Our Break Day. We’ll likely sleep in as much as possible, and spend some time at the pool.
Day 5 – April 17th: Magic Kingdom
Day 6 – April 18th: Animal Kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the evening
Day 7 – April 19th: Open day. I expect we’ll probably spend most of it at the Magic Kingdom, but we may head to Epcot in the morning first.
Day 8 – April 20th: Departure Kami’s flight leaves at 8:30, so I expect she’ll have to meet Magical Express at 5:30. Our flight doesn’t leave until after 6pm, so we’ll get to hang out for most of the day.

 

[Duzzygirl]

I love the idea of a break in the day, I've actually never done it. I think my husband may love me more if I incorporate one. lol

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Having never taken a little one (our youngest was 6 on our first trip), we have never HAD to do breaks. But, we did incorporate one or two break days in our last trip and enjoyed it. We'd leave the park in the heat of the day, swim or rest at the resort, then head back for dinner and evening stuff.

4 days is at least enough to do each park! My boys have made it clear that we can never plan a trip with less than 4 park days so they never have to choose which park to skip!

 

[Duzzygirl]

Last time we were there we did 4 days. It was plenty to tire us out. We did pool days in between, then a day at Downtown Disney as well. Worked out great.

 

[danceintherain]

I love the idea of a break in the day, I've actually never done it. I think my husband may love me more if I incorporate one. lol

It might be worth a try. I tried the dawn 'til dusk approach to Disney on our honeymoon. It was how we always did Disney when I was growing up. DH resisted A LOT. He even wanted breaks on the days we slept in... Now I just plan them in, and we do Rope Drop every day. It's our compromise, since DH would probably be ok sleeping in AND getting a break every day. He loves Disney, but he loves to relax too.

Having never taken a little one (our youngest was 6 on our first trip), we have never HAD to do breaks. But, we did incorporate one or two break days in our last trip and enjoyed it. We'd leave the park in the heat of the day, swim or rest at the resort, then head back for dinner and evening stuff.

4 days is at least enough to do each park! My boys have made it clear that we can never plan a trip with less than 4 park days so they never have to choose which park to skip!

I really prefer more time, but I'm sure we'll be able to cover enough to have a fulfilling vacation. I also expect we'll spend a lot of time watching trains....and ducks...and playing on playgrounds and on splash pads. If we don't ride a lot of rides, I'm ok with that.

Last time we were there we did 4 days. It was plenty to tire us out. We did pool days in between, then a day at Downtown Disney as well. Worked out great.

I'm sure we'll be plenty tired at the end of it. I probably shouldn't be adding Universal in there, but I couldn't resist.
I'm more worried about my sister than anyone else. DH and I are plenty used to being woken up at strange times by a toddler (for our trip when G was 3 months old, part of my reasoning was that we were so exhausted anyways, we might as well be tired at Disney) but her...not so much. I suppose she could always sleep in and meet us at the parks later if she can't handle it.

 

[danceintherain]

DH’s favorite thing to do at Disney is Dine, and we both want to try ALL the table service restaurants eventually. In 4 years of marriage, and 3 Disney trips, we’ve managed to make a sizable dent in that list (by location in order of completion).
Magic Kingdom:

Cinderella’s Royal Table

this is my favorite picture of DH from any of our trips
Plaza Restaurant

Epcot:​

Garden Grill (pre-planning Disney trip)
Coral Reef

sometimes I remember to take picture of our food
Le Cellier
Biergarten
Rose & Crown

Hollywood Studios:​

50s Prime Time
Sci Fi Dine In x2

DH loves the monster movie clips & I love the milkshakes
Hollywood Brown Derby

Animal Kingdom:​

Tusker House
(we can go to Rainforest Cafe at home, and I love the Honey Chicken at the Yak & Yeti CS, so there's never been a reason to go in there)

Resorts:​

Jiko
1900 Park Fare (dinner)

You met him in a TORNAAAADO!
Ohana (breakfast)

One thing I hate about character meals is that the characters seem to come by when you have a mouthful of food
Shutters​

Our ADRs for this trip are as follows:
- Mama Melrose
This made the cut simply because it’s the only restaurant where we haven’t eaten at Hollywood Studios other than Hollywood & Vine. I don’t want to do a character meal on our first day, so it won by default and the fact the DS hasn’t shown much interest in Playhouse Disney characters anyways.
- Mythos (Universal)
The “best” place at Island’s of Adventure. I figure it will give us a break if we decide driving all the way back to POFQ isn’t worth it.
- Ohana (dinner)
I’ve made probably 5 ADRs here in the past 4 years, and every single one of them has gotten canceled for various reasons.
- Be Our Guest
I was going to just go for lunch, but then a really late ADR popped up. Hopefully I’ll be able to get it changed to earlier, but I’m happy I won’t have to wait in line just to peek inside. I also think it will be fun to get a photo with Beast in his study!
- Restaurant Marrakesh
DH’s choice: I figure it will be fun to try something new and different.
- 1900 Park Fare (breakfast)
In case DS shows distaste for the “furry” characters, we will have a character meal. It may get canceled regardless.
- Chef Mickey’s (breakfast)
My first choice for a character meal for DS. It’s at the end of the trip, because I’m not sure how he’ll react. I’m not a huge fan of buffets at Disney, so I won’t be crushed if I have to drop this one until he’s more likely to enjoy it.

 

[danceintherain]

Part of the reason why DH finally agreed to an April trip is because G and I each had enough frequent flyer miles from all our death bed travels last year for one roundtrip ticket each on United, which meant we only had to pay for a ticket for him (he only came on one of the trips with us last year).

By the time we booked out flights, the availability wasnt all that great though, so I ended up booking us each a one way ticket with miles on United (only $5 each to use the miles). I was going to book DH and G on a flight together coming back, and use my miles for me on a separate flight, but all the United return flights were awful AND they wanted me to use twice as many miles, so I ended up booking all of us on the same nonstop Southwest flight on the way back. It ended up being around $450 for all three of us, which isnt bad AND we each get to check one bag on the way down (because G and I are both Premium Silver MileagePlus members with United) and two on the way back (since Southwest doesnt charge extra for bags). So if DH caves to everything G wants while were there, well have plenty of space. Im also really excited, because I dont pack light well, and packing in just a carry-on for a week doesnt excite me at all. Since G was born, Ive started paying to check at least one bag every time I fly, because kids come with gear&.but really its so I can fit in a couple extra things for myself.
It does make things simpler to check a bag though, especially since we pretty much always travel with a car seat and stroller. Add the toddler on top, and one person just doesn't have enough arms.

Well be arriving in Orlando around 1:30pm. This is the earliest Ive ever gotten there for a trip, so Im really excited to have the whole evening for whatever. Our departure is around 6pm, which is the latest weve gotten to stay too. Usually we have family obligations bookending our trips. Like& for our honeymoon& there was a wedding to get through.

Since our Dad was going to be using his frequent flyer miles to fly Kami home for her break anyways, he agreed to just change the plan and send her to Florida instead. Unfortunately, the range of options for her was even worse than ours, so shes not getting in until after 7pm, and her departure flight leaves at 8:30am.

Well all be taking Magical Express to and from the airport. I love it that Kami can get there at any time and we dont have to worry about going to pick her up. Ill probably poke her a few times at 5am to make sure she makes it to her departure flight&
I just hope she doesnt wake G up as she leaves, because I really dont want to be up at 5am on a day when we dont really have a place for him *cough* ME *cough* to take a nap.

For our Harry Potter day, were planning on renting a car. I think the minimum well do is 48 hours, but Im hoping I can get a good enough deal to keep it a little longer. I havent had a car at Disney since 2007 (and I wasnt the one who was driving) so this will be an interesting change for us. We love not having to worry about driving, and going all the way to Universal is a completely different ball game. None of the other options seemed at all practical though. Well also likely do a grocery run for some things to have in the room. The thought of not having to pack a whole weeks worth of diapers is definitely appealing!

 

[gtpoohbear]

Yay - I found your PTR too

Your DH sounds a lot like mine - likes to eat and take afternoon breaks!

What's really funny is that we have almost the same situation with flights - we are going United on the way there, Southwest on the way back. Except that it was SW that I had enough points to get mine and the kids tickets, only had to pay OOP for DH's. He is close to having a free ticket on United since he usually flies that for work- probably after this trip he'll be there.

Can't wait to hear about Universal - haven't been there since college, about 14 years ago! I keep saying someday we need to make a whole Orlando Vacation and do everyything EXCEPT Disney. Like that's ever gonna happen

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I would love to try Restaurant Marrakesh. We love the CS in the Morocco pavilion..it's one of our favorites! I'll be interested to hear how you like it!

Wow...great job on your flights! Sounds like a good deal too. Love the picture of your two guys (big and little) sound asleep!