How do I go back to a world that doesn't have fireworks every night?

[solana131]

Another boring day at work means another chance to update the TR

So Wednesday was my mid-week break day for us. I had a really hard time picking between the Poly and Port Orleans French Quarter, so I wanted to get some resort-hopping in during the week. I figured our DTD day was the perfect chance. Originally Mom & Dad were going to leave Wednesday morning, but I convinced them to stay another night so we could go to eat at Wilderness Lodge since I knew they would just love it.

So we got up bright and early and went to Capt Cooks.....KIDDING! We didn't do CC this morning. Can you believe it!? We walked on over to the TTC and caught the monorail to Epcot so we could take a bus from there. Dad gets car-sick, so we wanted the shortest bus ride we could get. We had a little fun along the way with all the tiki statues around the Poly.

I have about 20 of these pictures, but I'll spare you They are pretty much the same.

So we got to enjoy the longer monorail ride to Epcot again. Love going around the ball and over Future World. As we were walking up to the bus stop we saw the POFQ bus had just let people off and we started to run so he wouldn't take off on us. Luckily he wasn't in a hurry cause he waited. We chatted with him and he was surprised we were getting on because not many people go back to the resort at 8:30am! Needless to say, we had the bus to ourselves

We got off at FQ and went straight to Sassagoula Floatworks which is their QS spot. I had heard all about the beignets, so of course I had to try them. They were good and if we stayed there, I would have them as a snack maybe, but not for breakfast again. They were more like fried dough than a donut. I guess they were just too sweet for me. I had to go back up and order a side of sausage to cut down the sweetness. Their sausage is no way as good as the Poly. But overall the meal was great. It is such a fun place. I can see how it could get really busy and crazy in there, but we were fine.

After breakfast we took a little stroll around New Orleans. Boy that place is gorgeous! I am definitely staying here next time.

So, this whole trip we were trying to get Bradey to smile more natural. So instead of doing the whole "say cheese" thing we would think of fun things to say. Like "say Mickey" or "say pickles". Not sure what we were saying here, but it didn't make for good smiles

Yeah, they look funny, but they were trying to copy the clown behind them

So jealous of their pool! I did bring Bradey's bathing suit, but it was only around 10 and it was chilly. So we just walked around. This one is Bradey and I walking up over a section of the pool.

So pretty! And they had two things the Poly didn't have.....a hot tub (a nice one) and a playground. I can't believe with the price you pay at the Poly they don't have these two things.

After the pool comes the river. We took a nice relaxing stroll up along the river to the sister resort Port Orleans Riverside. This place was beautiful too, but if I were to stay at one of them I would pick FQ in a heartbeat. First of all is the size. FQ is much more compact, so your room isn't very far from the main building and bus stop. Riverside is way more spread out and could be quite a walk to the restaurant each morning. And secondly, they share amenities, so no matter which one you stay at you can swim, eat and play at the other anytime you want. So I would go with the convenience on the FQ, but make sure to visit Riverside often.

We walked over to Old Man Island to check out their pool and do a little cane pole fishing. This was a great way to spend a half-hour and at only $5, it was a bargain.

They didn't catch anything, but they had fun. Mom and I just snapped some pics and got some sun. Very relaxing

Up next....Downtown Disney and the boat ride to get there.

 

[KatMark]

Glad you got some resort hopping in. We've never stayed at POFQ or POR-Riverside (we stay at a different moderate when we do moderate). I'm just the opposite of you, I prefer POR-Riverside over POFQ. But everyone has their own likes/dislikes.

I love the picture of grandma and DS trying to pose like the statues.

 

[Disneychix]

I"ll have to remember the fishing at POR. $5 is a bargain and I'm sure my DS and DH would love it. We stayed at POFQ for DSs 1st trip and liked it quite a bit.
I didn't realize the Poly doesn't have a playground or hot-tub. That really stinks. I guess the MK is your expensive playground for that resort!

 

[solana131]

Glad you got some resort hopping in. We've never stayed at POFQ or POR-Riverside (we stay at a different moderate when we do moderate). I'm just the opposite of you, I prefer POR-Riverside over POFQ. But everyone has their own likes/dislikes.

I love the picture of grandma and DS trying to pose like the statues.

You stay at Coronado, right? That looks great too. I would like to try that sometime too. I just want to stay everywhere It is so hard to decide! And now with the new Art of Animation....oy! We have to go every year

I"ll have to remember the fishing at POR. $5 is a bargain and I'm sure my DS and DH would love it. We stayed at POFQ for DSs 1st trip and liked it quite a bit.
I didn't realize the Poly doesn't have a playground or hot-tub. That really stinks. I guess the MK is your expensive playground for that resort!

The fishing was fun, if you like fishing and not catching anything

Not having a playground sucked, I didn't really care about the hot tub, but I hope they put one in with their upcoming refurb. Being our first time, we spent more time in the parks and resort hopping so we didn't need the hot tub or really the playground. Bradey had fun just playing in the sand at the beach when we took mid-afternoon breaks. And they did have a water play area with little "fountains" that spurted up in different spots that the kids could play in. But it was chilly while we were there, so not too many were using it.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Great updates! We too were trying to decide between POR and Poly for this trip but it's our 10th anniversary so we really wanted the Poly again. But it is so nice to see pics from Port Orleans!

 

[solana131]

When we were finished with the cane pole fishing, we walked back to the central area of Riverside to catch the boat to Downtown Disney. We had just missed a boat, so we figured we would be waiting a while, but another one came in less than 5 minutes. The boat "captain" wasn't very personable, but luckily he didn't talk much. It was a nice relaxing ride, maybe 15 minutes, to the Marketplace.

We wanted to take the boat back to POFQ when we were done shopping, so rather than re-tracing our steps, we transferred to the boat that takes you over to West Side and we started there. Most of the good shopping is over at the Marketplace side, so it was a quick walk through West Side and we didn't even bother going through Pleasure Island. Bill bought a t-shirt and hat at the Harley-Davidson shop, then we went over to T-Rex.

We weren't having lunch here, I just wanted Bradey to see it. We got him a Build-A-Dino and looked at the dinosaurs right near the entrance.

Pick out a heart...

Rub it on your muscles so he is really strong...

Blow stuffing up his butt...

Give him a bath...

Spend lots of money for a stuffy that will have a hole in him by the time we get home....and whala! Rary is born. They asked Bradey what kind of sound he wanted (heartbeat, roar, etc) and put it in without even asking me if I wanted to spend the extra $10 on a sound! Wasn't pleased with that, but whatever.

I know people have said you can walk around the different rooms and look at everything, but I just felt weird doing that, so we just looked from the entrance.

We found the Lego store. Bradey isn't crazy about legos, so we didn't spend much time in there.

Dad and Bill stayed with Bradey at the lego outside play area while Mom and I went into World of Disney. Wow! That store was awesome! I got a sterling Mickey head necklace and earring set, 2 sets of cups (one for Bradey with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and one for my niece with princesses) and a few other things.

After all that shopping, we were getting a little hungry. I had originally planned on Earl of Sandwich and really regret not doing that, but everyone said they weren't real hungry after the late breakfast at POFQ. So we decided on just having an icecream instead. So it was off to Ghirardelli.

We sat out front across from the shop. The guy at the register said they would bring it over to us. What a great service! Their own outside dining area was shaded and busy, but this place was nice and sunny and only one other group seated there. Yum!

I had the Rocky Road sundae. Very good.

Dad just got plain old chocolate chip icecream in a waffle bowl. He said it was good.

Mom had the peanutbutter sundae. It looked really good too.

Bill had the berry sundae. It had cheesecake icecream with a couple different berry sauces. He said it was good, but as you can see, it was messy.

And Bradey wanted the strawberry shake. He tried and tried, but he couldn't finish it all He was just so excited that I was letting him have just icecream for lunch!

Right behind us was the sign with Disney's saying of the year....Let The Memories Begin.

We were full of icecream and sick of shopping (well, the guys were sick of shopping) so we headed over towards the Rainforest Cafe where the boat was to pick us back up. On the way we stopped in Goofy's Candy Co, but we were so full of icecream that nothing looked good. I wanted to make my own pretzel, but no one wanted anything else, so we didn't stay long.

We hopped on the boat and went back to French Quarter. I was originally planning on just taking the bus back to the Poly from DTD, but with Dad's carsickness, we decided to do the same as the way there. Turns out we should've taken the bus from DTD. Both Port Orleans resorts share buses and while FQ is first to load, we then had to go over to Riverside and stop at their 4 stops. All that stopping and starting made Dad queasy. It probably would've taken less time to just go back to the Poly. But we made it back to Epcot and walked back to the monorail station.

Another Let The Memories Begin sign

And we were on our way back to the Poly. Mom wanted a picture of the Magic Kingdom sign, so she snapped this as we went by...

We had a little time before our ADR at Wilderness Lodge, so we let Bradey play in the pool a little.

Then it was time to get changed up and go over to Whispering Canyon.

 

[solana131]

Great updates! We too were trying to decide between POR and Poly for this trip but it's our 10th anniversary so we really wanted the Poly again. But it is so nice to see pics from Port Orleans!

When is your 10th? Ours is this Sept and I am trying to convince hubby that we need to do a long weekend just the 2 of us. Would love to go back to the Poly, but unless we get a really really good PIN code its not gonna happen. He liked the Wilderness Lodge and French Quarter, so if I can convince him, we probably will end up at one of those. They just came out with free dining for the those dates, but you have to stay 5 nights and I was only looking to stay 3 or maybe 4. Bummer. Maybe they will come out with a good room-only offer instead. I'll keep looking.

 

[jennyjinx3]

When is your 10th? Ours is this Sept and I am trying to convince hubby that we need to do a long weekend just the 2 of us. Would love to go back to the Poly, but unless we get a really really good PIN code its not gonna happen. He liked the Wilderness Lodge and French Quarter, so if I can convince him, we probably will end up at one of those. They just came out with free dining for the those dates, but you have to stay 5 nights and I was only looking to stay 3 or maybe 4. Bummer. Maybe they will come out with a good room-only offer instead. I'll keep looking.

Ours is Sept 7...and yes I was hoping to have a weekend away with DH too! But we will settle for a dinner out at home and then share the rest of the celebration with the kids. We did get a pin for the Poly, I can't tell for sure exactly how much, but I think it's 35% off, I hope something comes up for you! I know that need to get back

 

[DMGeurts]

I love the update Suzi! And I love that Brady got to have Icecream for lunch - that's what vacation is all about! It looks like you had a great time at DTD!

D~

 

[solana131]

Ours is Sept 7...and yes I was hoping to have a weekend away with DH too! But we will settle for a dinner out at home and then share the rest of the celebration with the kids. We did get a pin for the Poly, I can't tell for sure exactly how much, but I think it's 35% off, I hope something comes up for you! I know that need to get back

Ours is Spet 21. I talked to my hubby last night and he just does not want to go to Disney without Bradey. And I guess I agree. Maybe when he gets older we could do it alone. In theory it sounds wonderful, but I know when it was time to leave there's no way I could tell him we were going to Disney and he couldn't come So we will probably go up to Acadia National Park for the weekend instead. Not so bad a consolation prize...its one of my favorite places in the world.

I love the update Suzi! And I love that Brady got to have Icecream for lunch - that's what vacation is all about! It looks like you had a great time at DTD!

D~

Yeah, it was a yummy icecream, but I was so looking forward to EoS! Oh well. Next time You're almost there....you can have some Earl for me!

 

[solana131]

After Bradey got tired of splashing in the pool we got him changed and ready for dinner. We had a 5pm ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe over at the Wilderness Lodge. It was only around 3:30 by the time we were ready to go, so we figured we could take our time and explore a little. We decided to take one of the little boats from Poly to MK

Then transfer to the boat that goes over to WL. So glad we opted for boats versus buses. The views from the water were great!

You can just see the top of the Lodge in this next picture.

It was a quick trip and really pleasant out that afternoon. Here's a shot from the walkway up from the docks.

I pointed out the geyser on our way by and everyone really wanted to see it. We walked up around the pool and just loved everything. I know it is modeled after the Pacific Northwest, but it looked an awful like home to us. Right down to the Mallard ducks floating in the stream.

So we looked around for a bit then went inside to check out the gorgeous lobby.

Okay, I thought I had a picture of said gorgeous lobby, but I guess I don't. I did get that shot above of Dad and Bradey playing on the bridge where the stream starts. Yep, the stream starts from a "thermal bubbler" inside the building. Well, this lobby was fantastic and so worth the not so stellar meal to see it.

We got a couple pressed pennies for Bradey's new collection and looked around in their store for a bit. Then it was time to check in for the ADR. We were the only ones waiting and there were only a few other groups in the restaurant, but they seated us right where you walk in and at this tiny tiny table. The table was more suited to 3 than 5 and there were so many empty ones the whole time we were there.

But anyway....we all ordered the Canyon Skillet which I had seen on here and was so looking forward to. I know I have seen pictures where everyone gets their own skillet, but that was not the case here. We were brought one skillet for 4 adults (Bradey had his own mini one). There was no where near enough food for all of us and our waitress didn't come back often. I seem to remember another "all-you-can-eat" meal like this just recently.

I have to say, the atmosphere and the cornbread made the meal bearable, but I'm not sure I would go back right away. Maybe if not everyone ordered the skillet you would get your own. But the atmosphere was great. They were loud and joking to eachother the whole time. The little boy behind us ordered ketchup and they gave him all the ketchup for the whole place. Their table was the same size as ours.

He had fun running it over to all the other tables when people asked, but I'm not so sure it would be fun for me. It looked like a pain to have all those on the little table. At least they only had 2 ad 2 ch and had a little more room than we did.

When we were ready for the check the waitress disappeared, I knew it was getting close to the geyser spouting time, so I told Bill and Dad to take Bradey down so he could see it. They got there just in time, watched it do its thing, and still got back up to the restaurant before we got our check! So after that we went to the store and bought Bradey his Chip n Dale stuffed animals he had been eyeing all week.

On our way back down to the boat Bradey said he missed Gram (my grandmother, his Great-Grandmother. She takes care of him everyday while I work. We are so lucky to have her watching him. She has done it since he was 3 months old. She turns 84 in a couple weeks.) and he wanted to talk to her and tell her all about Disney. So we let him. He was so cute talking to her and he did a great job of explaining everything we had done so far

We took the boat back to MK and the monorail to the Poly. It was still kinda early, so we let Bradey play at the beach until Wishes came on, then went to bed.

There's his new Chip n Dale!

 

[solana131]

Oh, and by the way....ONE WEEK FROM TODAY we will be in FL visiting my parents! Can't wait. The week in Disney was wonderful, but tiring. Bradey and I need a real vacation to relax and unwind

 

[solana131]

Gee, feeling a little lonely here

What am I doing wrong? Why don't people like me?

No really, I don't care, I like to talk to myself anyway! I am just trying to get through this TR so I can start planning another trip But please say "hello" if you are out there so I know someone is reading this....

 

[Disneychix]

We are having wonderful weather in WNY today so I have been outside as much as my schedule allows

I felt the same way about the skillet at WCC. I saw all the pics and there were 3 of us splitting it and they brought out one dish. I think this was probably the TS I've liked the least out of anywhere I've eaten at WDW. I still ate but service wasn't that great and it took forever to get seated and the food was lacking IMO.

Funny Chip and Dale story-When I was in EPCOT 2 weeks ago a lady screamed across a walkway to her family that "The Chip n Dales" were signing autographs. I could not stop laughing thinking of naked men signing autographs in EPCOT!

 

[solana131]

We are having wonderful weather in WNY today so I have been outside as much as my schedule allows

I felt the same way about the skillet at WCC. I saw all the pics and there were 3 of us splitting it and they brought out one dish. I think this was probably the TS I've liked the least out of anywhere I've eaten at WDW. I still ate but service wasn't that great and it took forever to get seated and the food was lacking IMO.

Funny Chip and Dale story-When I was in EPCOT 2 weeks ago a lady screamed across a walkway to her family that "The Chip n Dales" were signing autographs. I could not stop laughing thinking of naked men signing autographs in EPCOT!

I totally understand about being outside. If I wasn't working (and I use that word loosely) I would be out there too. It is beautiful here in Maine too.

I think I would try Whispering Canyon again only if I was staying at WL. Too many other great places to try before doing that again.

Oooh, naked men in Epcot! That is good wholesome family fun Count me in!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Just got caught up! You are doing a great job....you are not alone here promise! OMgoodness, I love that Bradley wanted to call his nana! What a sweetheart. That is amazing that at 84 she looks after him! She must be pretty amazing! Thanks for the peek at WC, we were deciding on going there or 50's Primetime for our trip, and now I think we are leaning to 50's. The Lodge looks really neat though. Want to see more!

 

[solana131]

Just got caught up! You are doing a great job....you are not alone here promise! OMgoodness, I love that Bradley wanted to call his nana! What a sweetheart. That is amazing that at 84 she looks after him! She must be pretty amazing! Thanks for the peek at WC, we were deciding on going there or 50's Primetime for our trip, and now I think we are leaning to 50's. The Lodge looks really neat though. Want to see more!

Thank you for the vote of confidence

Yes, my Gram is an amazing woman, thats for sure! I don't know what I would do without her

I would certainly recommend Whispering Canyon, just didn't like the server was the biggest problem. The small table sucked, but maybe if I had complained, they would've moved me . Just wish our server had come back more to see if we needed anything. But the resort and atmosphere was great and I would go back there again and just try something different. Maybe breakfast??

Have heard both good and bad things about 50s too. You never know.

 

[solana131]

Its really really nice out here today. I so don't want to be working, but since I'm stuck inside I might as well play with the DIS for a while

So where were we....

Thursday morning was the morning my parents had to leave I had such a good time sharing this with them and was sad to see them go. But in a way, I felt lighter now because we had done each park (except HS) and the next 2 days were just for taking our time and doing things we liked over again. It was very un-stressful and we enjoyed our time just the three of us.

So we started off our morning with an amazing breakfast at Kona.

If you have never eaten here for breakfast......what are you thinking?! Get an ADR immediately! Seriously, it was so good. I know you hear about the Tonga Toast all the time and my mom really enjoyed hers from Capt Cooks, but I didn't care for it. I had the Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes. OMG Good! The batter they use for these things is incredible! And add the crushed pineapple on top and the macadamia nut butter......

Sorry, I should have gotten a picture of it when it was all pretty before I dove in, but to be honest, I had to try them right away. The smell of them in front of me didn't allow for time to take a pic.

I was so entranced by my pancakes that I don't remember what everyone else had. Let me see.... I know Bradey had the Goofy's Toast (toast with a hole in the middle where they put an over easy egg) and loved it. Until now he wouldn't try runny eggs, but he loved this and now we have to make Goofys Toast at home all the time. Mom had the Somoan which is a form of eggs benedict. She liked it. I think Dad and Bill both had the breakfast platter. Everyone loved this breakfast and we all wished we had eaten here sooner. Needless to say, this wasn't the last breakfast here for Bill, Bradey and I

On the way out, I grabbed a shot looking down at the waterfall garden in the GCH.

So we went back to the room and helped Mom and Dad pack up. Then walked with them out to the parking lot and said our goodbyes. We thought we weren't going to see them until April at that point, so it was a sad goodbye. But turns out Bradey and I will be going down to visit them next week!

So the 3 of us went up to the monorail and headed over to the MK. We had a couple things we didn't get to the other day that was on my list. First up was Tomorrowland because I wanted to do Space Mountain before it got too busy. We rode Buzz again first on the way by. Then People Mover again because I love that thing.

Yep, we made him jump back and forth so he could be in the pic with us each. He was a good sport

I tried to get Bradey to go on the Astro Orbiter with me, but he thought it was too high up. I will try that next time. Bill and Bradey waited for me to ride Space then we went to the Indy cars again.

This time Bradey got to drive. And I spotted Push the Talking Trash Can while I was waiting for them, but he was gone before they got done. Bradey would've liked him very much. Next time....

We walked around the back way to Fantasyland and rode Pooh again. And I think we did Peter Pan and Small World again too. I had to watch Philharmagic once more cause I just loved that. We tried to make Bradey the King of England, but it didn't work.

He didn't want to ride the carousel since we have those up here it was no big thing. By this time we were getting hungry again. I really wanted to Pecos Bills, so we walked over to Frontierland, but it was real busy, so we settled for a couple corn dogs and a hot dog from the carts out front. We sat and watched the big white boat (can't think of the name) go by while we ate.

It was time for one of my old-time favorites, Tom Sawyer's Island. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures over there, but we played around out there for over an hour! This was right up Bradey's ally and we all had a good time just doing nothing.

 

[solana131]

Splash was broken, so we kept on moving. He didn't want to do Pirates again or Jungle Cruise. I tried to get him to do Magic Carpets, but that was a no go too. We just walked around a bit and soaked it all up. Then it was time for the parade.

We got a spot all picked out about 45 mins before it started.

And were entertained by this awesome red-headed CM. He was just so funny and really got the crowd into it. He had this thing made out of hula hoops he was using along with a Photopass girl to get some fun shots.

Then we saw the Main Street Band come by.

Waiting patiently...

One of my biggest pet peaves with anything like this, and I know I'm not alone, is when you scope out a spot way ahead then some chick that doesn't speak english comes and shoves her way in right when it starts! I was so pissed. I think I might have lost control and actually hip-checked her at one point. My bad, but come on people. There is a reason we sat here for almost an hour. Not my fault if you were late. See the picture above where Bradey is standing instead of sitting on the edge? She tried to stand right in front of him on the road! Yep. Not a happy mommy was I!

Anyhoo...deep breath....

Here comes the parade! Check out the hidden mickeys on the tire treads.

I would not have noticed, but Bill is a tire guy and that was the first thing he said.

Great dancers. I always try to catch one of them not smiling, but it never happens. I bet they have sore cheeks by the end of their shifts

This was Bradey's first ever parade and he loved it. I think it was a little too loud thought, but everything at Disney is.

I won't bore you with all my parade pics. But the Genie did come real close for a high five.

So after the parade went by the first time and headed to the hub and around we decided to leave so I didn't commit murder to the pushy lady behind me. We rode the train on the way out to see if it was any different during the day versus at night. Its not. I thought it would be a little more exciting, but you really can't see anything from it either day or night.

We went back to the Poly and had an early dinner at Capt Cooks since we didn't have much for lunch. I snapped a pic of the hidden mickey in the carpet in our hallway.

And we decided to change and walk over to the Grand Floridian. It was about 6pm by now and the sun was setting. It was such a great walk.

The Grand Floridian was beautiful, but I have no desire to stay there. Would like to try some of the restaurants sometime, but we were fine just visiting.

And my beloved Poly at night from the walkway between the two resorts.

Time for Wishes and bedtime.

 

[204charity]

Subbing!
My 9yo DD and I are heading down to DW in just 36 more days! We are staying at the Poly too (as you can see by my siggie) and I am sooo excited! Like you, I haven't been to DW in over 20 years, and I am eager to see all of the changes.