One of the things I knew that we wanted to do this trip was to spend more time enjoying the resort and all it had to offer. That included walking over to our sister resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, and trying the much talked about Beignets!
Since we were not going to be hitting a park on this day, we decided it was a perfect day to head over there for breakfast.
We slept in a bit and then got dressed and headed to POFQ. We stopped at the food court so that Jeff and I could fill our mugs with coffee.
Bad or not, I need my coffee in the morning! We had talked about taking the boat, but it didnt start running until later in the morning, so we set out on foot. Jeff was concerned about how far it might be, but I knew from reading these boards that it was an easy walk. It really was....and BEAUTIFUL! The walkway is right along the river and takes you by the mansions on the other side, past the foot bridge over to the mansion section, and gives a great view of POFQ as you approach.
We had no idea where the Sassagoula Floatworks was located, so we took the first path into the interior of the resort. What a beautiful place...and strikingly different than POR. I loved the feel of being on old New Orleans streets and the little landscaped areas throughout the resort were immaculate. We quickly found the food court, and headed in for breakfast.
We ordered 2 orders of 3 beignets using snack credits and 2 very tasty looking cinnamon rolls also with snack credits. The beignets were made to order! YUMMMMM!! Dan was hungry...hes a big breakfast eater, so he ordered a breakfast platter complete with eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuit and Mickey waffles.
After thoroughly enjoying our sugar coated pillows of deliciousness known as beignets, we walked back along the river to POR and got our stuff ready to hit the water park. Now we had not done the water parks on our last trip, so this was new. We had asked the boys the night before whether they wanted to do Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach and the vote was
Blizzard Beach so we headed off to catch the bus.
I'm not sure why Isaiah was sleeping at 10:00 in the morning, but that boy can catch a nap ANYWHERE!!
We arrived right around 10:30, about ½ hour after opening. We quickly changed into our suits, slathered our white Northerner bodies with sunscreen and hit the slopes, uh, the slides!
Oh..first we scoped out some nice chairs in a centrally located location to leave our towels, shoes, etc. We had decided we wanted to ride Teamboat Springs as our first ride. Its a family tube ride that ALL of us can fit in so it was perfect to get our feet wet, so to speak! One thing I noted immediately about BB is that it is very well marked. The maps are easy to read and there are LOTS of signs letting you know where to find the different slides. We saw that in order to ride Teamboat Springs you literally have to go up the mountain...oh boy. There is a ski lift, but the line was rather long, so we decided to head up the path on foot. WOW....that was a climb!
I am sorely out of shape and totally felt every step. The line was fairly short and we were in our family sized tube in no time. It was great ride and so fun that we could all do it together. Most rides at water parks are for one or two riders so this was a welcome change of pace!
I dont know exactly what order we did things here, but I think Dan and Jeff decided to ride Summit Plummet next. Isaiah is not a daredevil so he had no interest. I didnt feel like I had anything to prove, so I too sat it out! Jonah, Isaiah and I decided to head to the viewing area at the bottom and wait for Jeff and Dan to come down so we could take pics. That slide is
FAST and we enjoyed watching everyone fly down then pick their suits out of their teeth before exiting! About 20 minutes later, Jeff came down followed by Dan. I missed Jeff, but got this picture of Dan on his way down the mountain.
Looking up waiting for the boys to come down...it really is a tall slide!
We pretty much stuck together for the most part and rode the Toboggan Racers several times, rode the mat slides (Runoff Rapids) and enjoyed the wave pool. ( Isaiah fell and cut his foot at one point so he and Jeff also made a pit stop at the First Aid station. ) I am not a wave pool fan myself. The waves tend to make me sick
so I played in the pool for a bit with the family, then headed out and sunned myself on a lounge chair while they enjoyed themselves.
I think it was around 2 or so, so we were getting hungry. We ate at one of the food stands at BB. We all got pulled pork sandwiches, except for Isaiah who got this.....
They gave us our dessert with our meal, so we had to eat that first in order to keep it from melting. What a shame! LOL!
Next stop was the lazy river, or Cross Country Creek. We all love this ride! Dan got off at one point and headed to enjoy some more slides on his own. Hes 14 so a little independence goes a long way. We had arranged a meeting place so we felt confident that he would enjoy his time and we would meet up later.
Jeff and the two younger boys and I decided to ride the Slush Gusher, not quite as high and scary as Summit Plummet, but close! This time I was NOT trudging up that mountain so we got in line for the ski lift.
MUCH BETTER!! Slush Gusher was AWESOME and I truly believe that I was not at all touching water slide coming off that second hill!
Gotta love catching air! So fun! Even Jonah loved it!
Again, fuzzy on details, but I know we rode Teamboat Springs again at some point. The lines for all of the attractions were 20 minutes or less so we didnt stand in too many lines. It was a beautiful sunny Florida day and we were COMPLETELY enjoying ourselves!
Lastly, Jeff headed off to meet up with Dan and I took Jonah and Isaiah into the Ski Patrol Training Camp area. There are lots of cool activities for the kids, like a zip line, mini slides, and an iceberg obstacle course of sorts as well as a pool.
You should know that my middle son Isaiah is a swimmer. He swims competitively and has for 4 years. At one point he was doing the deadmans float in the pool. I was watching Jonah cross the icebergs so I was not really paying full attention to Isaiah. Hes a good swimmer and there were ample lifeguards. At one point I saw the lifeguard pull him over to talk to him....uh-oh! I overheard him tell Isaiah that he had been about to jump in and save him! Apparently Isaiah can hold his breath a long time (trained swimmer remember) and his deadmans float had kind of freaked out the lifeguard! Too funny!
It was getting very close to park closing time (5:00) so we headed to the changing rooms, changed back into our dry clothes, and joined the rest of the crowd on the way to the buses. It was our first experience with a Disney water park (since 1992, that is!) and we really had a great day! I wish I had taken more pictures, but its a little tough at a water park! I do have a few Photopass pics from Blizzard Beach, but Im still deciding what to do with those....Im running out of time so I need to decide quickly!
Up next...we head to DTD for dinner and a little shopping! Wolfgang Puck here we come!
Your Disney Magic was seriously in play, wasn't it?
He looks just like my Madeline after a meal.
