Dreams Do Come True in Port Orleans. ~~*The End! Final Thoughts. 2/25 Pg. 41*~~

[Flossbolna]

Just wanted to mention that Katharina and I really loved all the POFQ pictures. We will definitely try to visit this resort while we are there. We think it might make a good break from the parks to go there for some beignets in the afternoon since the Jambo House pool is closed and the weather might not be warm enough for swimming anyway!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Just wanted to mention that Katharina and I really loved all the POFQ pictures. We will definitely try to visit this resort while we are there. We think it might make a good break from the parks to go there for some beignets in the afternoon since the Jambo House pool is closed and the weather might not be warm enough for swimming anyway!

I think going to POFQ will make a very nice break! It is so relaxing!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I have the next update all ready to go....I just haven't had time to post it today.

Stupid work getting in my way of DISing.

I'll post it when I get home!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I have the next update all ready to go....I just haven't had time to post it today.

Stupid work getting in my way of DISing.

I'll post it when I get home!

you know we'll be here waiting! I have to get to work on an update for mine!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Thursday January 15, Part II.

We left off with heading to our mystery ADR.

Some of you guessed it on my Facebook. I put a hint on there that we had a great lunch at a place that doesn’t always get the best reviews.

Mama Melrose’s.

One word.

Yum!

I had called in the morning before we left and we were able to get a 1:05 ADR. I was impressed that there was availability. One thing I realized on this trip is that post-surgery I prefer to sit down with a meal instead of doing the sometimes rushed counter service thing. It’s easier for me to eat slower which means less chance of making myself sick. I asked Jen and she had no problem adding in the sit down meal for me.

I was more than happy to agree to a sit down meal! The more and more I go to Disney the more I appreciate at TS for a nice break from all the hustle and bustle that park touring can bring with it!!!!

We checked in a bit early but we were seated in no time. Right next to DISer Gellybean!! Hehehe. It was too funny. I had completely forgotten this was their DHS day and they were eating lunch at Mama Melrose’s. We chatted a bit while they finished their desserts and we ordered. It seemed that they were having a great trip like us. It was nice to meet you, gellybean!

What great luck!! It was awesome to be able to talk to you about Texas and meet your family!!!!

This restaurant was a light fixture mecca! They were so pretty too. I loved the ambiance. I wasn’t expecting it at all.

For our meals we decided to split everything.

Calamari Appetizer for Two.

I will admit that I was relieved that Jen liked calamari, I know she isn’t the biggest seafood fan but I LOVE calamari and I really wanted to try it.

I'm usually good with anything that is fried LOL! However being Italian, fried calamari has always been on the list at holidays so I am a big fan!!! Love the stuff!!!! I really enjoyed the peppers too LOL!

For our meal we ordered the Chicken Flatbread with tomato pesto sauce. We were leery about the pesto sauce since neither of us are huge fans of it but it was subtle and delicious!

Another great choice!! So yummy!!!

Last but not least…..dessert! Honey Hazelnut and Ricotta Cheesecake.

This was just okay. I liked it but I was expecting more.

I also ordered a Light Pomegranate lemonade for my drink with lunch. Not that I can drink much while I eat but it was really delicious. I wish I had seen it at some other places, not that I really asked but it was good. I was quickly getting sick of just water, thank goodness Jen had picked me up some Sobe Lifewaters. I really really missed soda while at Disney. More so than when I’m at home.

Me too...sometimes I just wanted to have a Dr. Pepper!! I mostly stuck with water to avoid dehydration!!! I'm glad you had me bring those Sobe waters...I really enjoyed the fruit punch!

After lunch we headed to Toy Story Mania to redeem Fastpass #1 for our second ride of the day.

Jen beat me AGAIN but I still had the better accuracy and we got the cat for a prize so I was happy with that.

YAY for the cats!!!!

We moseyed over to Sunset Blvd. (I think that is what it is called) and Jen looked in some of the shops and I people watched on a bench. The Block Party Bash had started so I was looking at that from afar.

Jen came out and said that the villain shop didn’t have much villain stuff in it. I have to agree, I had looked in there the previous day and it just seemed to be lacking.

During October, they had a better supply so I was disappointed that they didn't have more this time around!! Oh well there is always next October!!!

We had our picture taken in front of Tower of Terror by a photopass photographer.

Then we sat on a bench waiting for the next Beauty & The Beast show. With some very annoying little girls who were playing tag. Now, I have nothing against tag but they were running around inside the planter thingy with all the shrubs instead of on the ground. So we had little girls whizzing behind us as we sat on the bench and NO ONE was supervising them. I think there were four of them. I was afraid they were going to get hurt.

Finally we saw that they were letting people into the show so we headed in. I was getting tired. It had been a long day and we still had to wait another three hours for our dinner reservation at Brown Derby. We chatted and decided that I should call Disney to see if we could get an earlier ADR for Brown Derby. As luck would have it we were able to secure a 5:05PM ADR instead of our 6:45PM one. I was happy.

Me too...it had been a very productive and fun day but the energy meter was draining fast!!! I was very much looking forward to our dinner at BD!

Continued in the next post...

 

[Lady Lallie]

While we were sitting there Jen also decided to call Disney to reserve a Carriage Ride at Port Orleans for the following night. We knew that could mean changes to our Epcot day but we both were in love with French Quarter and we wanted to take a carriage ride.

I was very very excited about this!!! I definitely was looking forward to a nighttime stroll around Port Orleans!

Jen got off the phone just in time for Beauty & The Beast to start. I hadn’t seen the show since 2003 I think and let me tell you…it was fabulous! I loved it even more than I remembered loving it. We had great front row seats too.

I fall in love with this show more and more each time I see it!! We really did have great seats for this!!!

After Beauty & The Beast we headed over to Toy Story Mania to redeem Fastpass #2 for our third ride of the day.

A bench along the way…

I’m happy to report that I FINALLY won! I was pretty darn excited and gloating. Jen pointed out to me that she hadn’t gloated earlier in the day. I can’t help it, I’m wicked competitive and a playful gloater. I told her she was welcome to gloat about her TWO victories. Hehehe.

Which I did LOL!!!! I was still 2-1 for the day LOL Although once again Leslie owned me in accuracy LOL!!!!! She was 3-0 in that department LOL!

We had just enough time to make it over to Brown Derby for our reservation, we were sat right away and even in a booth. One booth over from where we had sat in May.

No idea who this is….

For our meals we decided to do the sharing thing again. We ended up ordering three appetizers and a dessert.

I have to say I really enjoyed the whole sharing part of this trip!!!! Got to try a lot of different foods that way!!

First was the Cremini Mushroom Chèvre Tortelloni with Tomato-Fennel Sauce and Shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.

I was apprehensive about this but it was GOOD. I’m glad Jen choose it.

I was amazing!!! I really enjoyed it!!!

I choose the Blue Lump Crab Cake with Potato Crust.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! So very good. Jen even liked it. I’ll turn her into a seafood lover yet!

LOL...it was good! I was suprised by how much I enjoyed it! I'm glad there is still hope for me LOL!!

Then we ordered the Cobb Salad for two which was delightful as always.

I had asked about the possibility of ordering the Salmon Polenta but the waiter said it was no longer available. Sad. Sad.

For dessert we ordered my beloved Cheesecake with Grand Marnier Strawberries.

So yummy. So delightful. A perfect meal!

I have to tell you I'm starting to love that cheesecake here more than my creme brulee and that is saying something! That cheesecake was sinful!

We headed out towards the parking lot.

We were a little sad as we were leaving because we knew that they were holding the special event at The Great Movie Ride and we had tried to get into it but they were sold out. Sigh.

Back at French Quarter we hung out in the room for a bit and then decided to go exploring. We hit up the shop first where we met a very nice CM Leon. He gave us beads and even showed us how to make little dogs out of the beads, very cute. I believe we pin traded as well.

I'm going to be wearing those beads in the upcoming weeks here at school!! It will be fun to tell the students the story behind them!!

We checked out the pool area and Jen ordered me the non-alcoholic version of the Pina Colova. I want to say it was called Volcano something. I can’t remember. It was so good, I was really glad that I could still enjoy this treat!

I wrote down that it was called a Lava Smoothie!!! It was very nice, but I'm not a huge coconut fan so I only had a sip LOL!

Continued in next post....

 

[Lady Lallie]

We took the boat over to Riverside and I fell in love. Love at first sight. Riverside speaks to me. It’s so peaceful, relaxing and it makes me feel like a Southern Belle with those awesome mansions. I can tell you that without a doubt I will be staying at Riverside on my next Disney trip.

I’ll let Jen tell you how she felt about Riverside in her own words…

I have always been a Southern Belle in my heart. The first time I watched Gone with the Wind I was a goner!! Floating by the Mansions at POR I knew I had entered a piece of my own personal heaven!!! I loved the intimate feeling of both POFQ and POR...but there was something about the Magnolia trees, the fountains, and the spiral staircases that I knew I found the resort for me! So rest assured as Leslie has said...there will definitely be a stay at POR in my future!!!

We poked around the gift shop, I bought a tshirt. It was a men’s shirt and to be honest I haven’t even worn it yet! I probably should have passed on it but oh well. We pin traded some more and I think I bought some pins for my co-worker then we headed back over to French Quarter.

I really grew to love pin trading this trip! It was really fun to pick a theme of pins and try to trade with them! I have plans for my next trip with the pins!!! Now to figure out a great way to display them besides the whole laynard thing LOL!

We decided to tweak our plans a bit for Saturday & Sunday….so we talked to Hugh at the Concierge desk. He was very helpful, he couldn’t help us too much with Saturday but we had a back up plan. He was able to secure us a new ADR for Sunday…after trying about 5 other places. But you know we won’t tell you about that until we get there. Muhahahaha!

Evil laugh WOOT!! Wouldn't be an update without the evil laugh!!!

We went back to our room, took pics of our souvies and headed to bed.

Jen bought this at DHS.

I had a real hard time deciding to buy this!! I think I debated about it all the way through dinner! In the end I'm glad I did!!! Although I'm now looking at a few more at Disney shopping LOL! Is there a limit on how many Disney t-shirts a person should own??

My tshirt.

The pins I had traded for that day.

Coming Up….

Will we become Spaceship Earth Pancakes!?

Changes of Plans at Epcot.

How to solve a bad hairday.

 

[belle8306]

Ohhh, my beloved POR! I am so glad you both liked it too! Both of your shirts are really cute. I don't think you can ever have too many. We also enjoyed Mama Melrose's a few years ago. I had the penne alla vodka and it was sooo good! Beauty and the Beast is always so much fun to watch. I love the music.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I am LOVING these updates!! Clearly you two are just smitten with Port Orleans. It *almost* makes a girl want to cheat on the Beach Club.

So nice to hear a good review of Mama Melrose. I'm not a calamari fan but that flatbread looks delish and I love pesto. I might have to try it! I'm a big fan of taking breaks at TS restaurants!

Hurrah for so many rides on TSM!

How great you could get an earlier ADR at Brown Derby. I think the signature might be Michael Gelman who is producer of Regis and Kelly??? I thought it was interesting that they lock that signature book away each night. Can't believe no one went for the grapefruit cake?!

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this TR. I love all of the reports both of you have done but this one just seems special b/c you can tell how much fun you both had!!

 

[shannn]

Oh, a list is in order:

*I've never seen the Beauty & the Beast show. I think I might have to try to fit it in next time.
*The light fixtures at Mama Melrose are beautiful!!
*That pool looks really good. I've never seen it before.
*POR really is beautiful. I love the mansions.
*I love your shirt.

It looks like y'all had another great day! Can't wait to find out what changes you made!

 

[carissanboys]

The light fixtures at Mama's were gorgeous!

I'm not a big seafood lover, but I LOVE crab and I love crabcakes! Crab is so sweet and not fishy tasting.

Glad you guys decided to do a carriage ride! Hoping it didn't rain for you all like it did for us. And so glad you fell in love with POR. Isn't it wonderful??

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Love this update! I'm happy to hear a good review for Mama Melrose. I'd considered it a few times but had always passed. That chicken flatbread looks very yummy.

I thought the signature at the Brown Derby might be Michael Phelps but the last name was definately off. Gelman!

Mmmmm, that Lava Smoothie looks yummy too. Love those pins -- especially the TSM one. Maybe we'll go for a fast pass theme next trip.

Can't wait to hear how the carriage ride went.

 

[MinnieNurse]

Woot!! We got a triple dose today!! We have not done Mama Melrose since our first trip in 2005. We loved the food, just not the service on our day, so maybe its time we give it another try.

HBD-of course everything looks delicious!! My DS and I did the sharing thing with our last trip which worked out perfectly for us.

 

[gellybean]

It was fabulous meeting you guys! I knew y'all were in DHS that day because of facebook, and thought perhaps we'd run into each other, but never would have guessed we'd have been seated next to each other in Mama Melrose. Too funny!!

Jen- anytime you have any questions about Texas or need anything to help facilitate y'all's move, please let me know!!

Love the t-shirts and pins!! I ALMOST bought a lanyard and starter kit this trip. I would so be a pin addict.

Cheesecake at BD looks fabulous. I was a bit disappointed in honey hazelnut and ricotta cheesecake too. Didn't taste like anything other than Sara Lee.

You and Jen are going to be singlehanded-ly responsible for our next stay at POR or POFQ!! I've stayed at both, back in the early 90s. I loved POFQ, but POR was never a favorite of mine. The time we stayed there, my mother fell on the Streets of America and broke her foot! After looking at your pics, I think I need to give POR another chance... maybe I'm just negatively associating a broken foot with the mansions and magnolia trees! Great update ladies!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I really enjoyed taking the boat at night past the mansions at POR. They were so pretty. Loved the whole boat thing too.

Glad you enjoyed your last minute sit-down lunch. I do like to do the sit-down and relax thing too.

Were your arms hurting you after 3 TSM rides?

 

[Charleston Princess]

There is so much I want to comment on, that I had to take notes.

I am so glad you had a lovely lunch at Mama Melrose's. Charles and I ate there in 1995, and I don't remember being wowed by it. It may have been a combination of August heat and Charles complaining about the August heat, that I was just in an all-around cranky mood. All the food you tried looks delicious!

Beauty and the Beast is a favorite of mine. I think it is in part because Belle is a reader. Gotta love that in a woman.

You know I love your DHS nighttime photos!

I have no idea whose signature that is in the book either -- that stinks. I don't think I realized that you had tried to get into the GMR dinner. Did you see the photos of it? It looked like such a great time. I would have been all about the desserts in The Wizard of Oz scene.

Yeay! You got beads at Port Orleans! The CM gave us some in 2008. I wonder where I put them...

Riverside is gorgeous -- such an Old South feel to it. Can't wait to see the pictures that you took on the carriage ride the next night!

Great vintage design t-shirt, LL!

Jen, I would have gladly taken that Lava Smoothie off your hands.

 

[jordanyosh]

I, for one, can't wait for this!!!

Ooh, that is going to be good!

Me either!

The wheels in my mind are spinning.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Super update girls!

Great choice going to Mama Melrose's we haven't tried that yet, will have to remedy that in the future!
You made some interesting choices at HBD! Looked very tasty.
I don't blame you for moving that ressie up and heading out when you got tired, looked like a relaxing evening....
Cute souvies!
Looking forward to more!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Looks like Mama Melrose's has improved since the last time I was there!!! So glad you got a good meal!

Wow you guys really strayed from your plans this time around! I love it!!!

No mention of your feet? Are we to assume that the new sneakers worked????

You got the little boy Eric. Aisling traded for all the Toddler Princesses last trip and will be moving on to the boys next time. It was good for her to have a goal

 

[jordanyosh]

Great update(s).

TSM--can't wait to try this. You would think I would just go 5 minutes down the street and try it at California Adventure, but I HAVE to have my first ride at WDW.

Brown Derby...

That cheesecake looks

light fixture goodness...

I have to make it over to POR this trip...

Mama Melrose's--hope to make it there again someday. The food looks amazing. What are the chances of randomly running into a DISer.