Highs, Lows & Surprises

[princessoftea]

Hello,

We got back today from 2 weeks at Port Orleans Riverside. I'd like to say a huge thank you for the advice and trip planning tips from these boards.

HIGHS
MNSSHP - the atmosphere on 31st October was great and we managed to see everything without encountering the huge crowds we were expecting. Highlights were; my DD having a great time at the dance party with Jessie & seeing the Fairies with no line, the Villains show, great photopass pics and a good parade spot just outside the Diamond Horseshoe.

CMs - My DD(6) is confident around adults as it is but she loved going up to chat and pin trade, she was fascinated with the bag check process and asked at animal kingdom why they don't check the bags on the way out to make sure people aren't stealing the animals!

DISCOVERY COVE - An expensive day but certainly worth the money. I managed to get a great spot to take some good pics of my DD and OH during the dolphin interaction thanks to the tips on the Discovery Cove board (this alone saved me about $200!)

EPCOT - Loved this park, meeting characters, trying Escargot and my daughter loved the Kidcot stops and Kim Possible missions.

AK - My DD loved Everest, and it's tough to be a bug, I loved the detailing at this park, the Nemo show was fab too and we had some nice photopass 'magic' shots.

MK - BTMRR was great and my daughter loved meeting Rapunzel and Tiana. Rope Drop on the 1st day with the characters arriving on the train was wonderful and I had a tear in my eye seeing my DD's face light up .

DHS - Star Tours was a favourite with all of esp OH, we all enjoyed the shows at this park. The Muppets show was excellent.

WATERPARKS - We did both but preferred BB, we had done everything at TL 10am - 2pm so spent the afternoon at DQ.

POR RESORT - The feel of this was great, nice pool area lovely room in Acadian House, short walk to everything and the boat to DTD was handy too. We had a walk up to FQ one afternoon and although there was the dragon slide we much preferred the Riverside resort. We also visited Beach Club and I didn't like that anyone could walk through it from the Epcot area, GF was lovely but a bit too formal for our tastes. Highlights at the resort were, cane pole fishing, watching a movie under the stars with pizza and wine and the create your own omlettes / pasta at the foodcourt.

FASTPASSES - using these and getting to parks early meant our longest wait all holiday was 20 mins, usually rides were walk on or 5 mins.


LOWS

WALKING - Decided to walk to the Dolphin for a meal at Shula's - it's quite a trek from the Epcot bus stop, we had plenty of time but I wished I hadn't worn my heels!


JET LAG - I underestimated how long it would take for my DD to adjust and had to cancel a couple of dinner ressies because it was just too much. After 3 or 4 days in we decided to ensure she had a nap if we were going out for dinner. This worked well and on some occasions meant we could enjoy both rope drop and EMHs in the evening

Also the flight home I just couldn't get to sleep at all so I'll sleep well tonight!

SURPRISES

WISHES FROM THE MONORAIL - I had hoped to get to our ressie at Narcosees early so we could see Wishes from the GF. We had a much better view from the monorail it was really magical and then we so the water pagent while having out meal - a wonderful last night.

TRANSPORTATION - Far quicker than expected, it can take a while to go s short distance but we had some great bus drivers and company on the buses. We never waited more than 15 mins for a bus. We did wait over 40 mins for a boat to the HDDR but they used one of the other boats to get us there in time for the show. Also taxis were far cheaper than expected $55 - return to Discovery Cove and $13 from GF to POR.

FOOD - The quality was much better than expected especially places like Mama Melrose which hadn't had such good reviews. We loved - Raglan Road, Le Celier and La Hacienda de San Angel for Dinner Crystal Palace for Breakfast and CHH for lunch.

This is turning into more of a TR so I'll finish here. I've been mostly lurking on here but anytime I have posted I've had such helpful responses. Thanks very much

This was a once in a lifetime holiday for us but I'm hoping with some saving we could make it back in 5 years - fingers crossed

 

[dixonsontour]

Glad you had a fantastic time

 

[Sarah28]

Loved reading this and so glad you had such a great time!

 

[wayneg]

Its rarely a once in a lifetime trip to Florida, hope you make it back again sooner rather than later

 

[joolz1910]

Sounds fantastic!

 

[Pegasus928]

Thanks for taking the time to come back and say thank you.
There really are a great bunch of helpful and friendly people on here who have all the information you need to plan a near perfect holiday.
Hopefully now you will feel that you have the knowledge and experience to stick around and share it with others that are planning a trip in the not too distant future. Please.

 

[Becx N Gav]

Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time

I applaude you for making it through Epcot all the way to Shula's in heels I've had enough trouble in flat shoes rubbing

 

[disneyholic family]

thanks for sharing your mini-trip report!!

sounds like a magical holiday!!!

as for being surprised that you enjoyed the food at places that get bad reviews - that's a very good point!! so many times i've found i like what others don't and vice versa...you really have to try things for yourself and so often are pleasantly surprised, as were you!!

(it happened to us this year with coral reef, rose and crown, sci fi and yak and yeti - we enjoyed them all very much despite the many bad reviews i've seen them get )

 

[Chilly]

Sounds like a brilliant holiday

 

[Disneymad]

Thanks for coming back and sharing with us - sounds like you had a fantastic trip Like Wayne says though, what starts as a once in a lifetime trip often turns into much more...

Just had 4 nights at Riverside myself (Alligator Bayou, looks like we might even have been there at the same time!), first time at the resort and we loved it too, has a lovely relaxed atmosphere for a resort so large don't you think? I'd love to get back there again sometime.

 

[Cyrano]

So glad to hear that you had a wonderful time.
It sounds like you are on the road to becoming a WDW veteran

 

[princessoftea]

Thanks for all the comments, we have 1500 photos to sort through now which doesn't even include the Photopass ones so will enjoy doing that.