How to do Free Dining AND lose weight!!! - FINISHED! p. 3 #34

[LegoMom3]

Greetings fellow DISers!

Just back from our wonderful trip. I plan to put a whole TR together after I upload some pics to Photobucket. With all the great writers here I'm a bit nervous about posting a trip report, but what the hey - every trip is different and we'll have entirely unique stories to post!

So, here's the cast:

Hubby: (DH!) No other name really needed as he is the most wonderful man in the world, and my absolute best friend.

Mom: (me) I am the reason we took this trip this year in the first place - celebrated my 40th B-day in January and I wanted a trip to WDW!!!! I am the quintissential (sp?) DisneyNut. Spend far too much time on the DISboards and watching WDW planning videos. For the record, all that accumlulation of tidbits and factoids paid off in a big way!

Grumpy: (DS9) The name says it all! There is not enough pixie dust in the world to shake his mood when he's in one. Otherwise he's a really great kid and will without a doubt be voted Class Clown in his high school yearbook. Also the family daredevil.

Sleepy: (DS6) This kid could sleep through Wishes up in the castle apartment.....LOVES his sleep! Ended up renting him a stroller at the end of the trip because he was sure his legs were on the verge of falling off... The more reserved and quiet of our three boys.

Silly: (DS4) No, there's no Snow White dwarf named Silly but there ought to be. Our youngest and giggliest son. Can put a smile on anyone's face in an instant. Very proud of being over the magical 40" height mark on this trip!

Mil & Fil: (my in-laws) They joined us for the first 5 of our 7 days. Great people and very fun, and yes I mean that! Total opposites in touring Disney, though - Mil could just stroll up and down Main Street all day or see Festival of the Lion King a zillion times in a row, while Fil loves things like Test Track and Soarin' and Space Mountain!

Date and place of travel: We had a magical stay at Port Orleans Riverside from 9/20 - 9/27! We LOVED Riverside!! Nothing bad to say about it at all. Absolutely enchanting. I could live there and be very happy for the rest of my life! Actually, anywhere in Florida will do. Winter's on its way here in NH and I hate the cold....

I had wanted a real clever title for my trip report, but I'm not real good at coming up with stuff like that so the one that's there is the one you get. We did do Free Dining, and I DID lose weight!! Go figure.

***************

Next time: I Thought This Day Would Never Come!

 

[OhMari]

Gaining weight is my biggest fear with the Dining Plan. Can't wait to hear how you did not gain weight.

 

[pumba]

my daughter was doing WW and lost her required two pounds on her vacation.....the amount of walking that goes on and she ate anything she wanted.....her response was after all we only go to Disney once every other year......
AM anxious to see all the places you went to and where you ate.....thanks for the post

 

[KRIS10420]

DH and I went in the beginning of September and we were on the Dining Plan. I lost 8 pounds on the trip. I think it was just too hot to eat It took my appetite away so I ended up eating only half of my meal and never made it to dessert.

 

[LegoMom3]

I just want to say, for the record, that I have been catching up on Zzub's latest TR and I feel very intimidated to be here at ALL!

But I've also waited a long time for my chance to do a TR, and since I've already jumped in with both feet and started my own, I owe it at least to myself and hopefully a few loyal followers to keep pressing on...

Day 1!
For someone who can barely drag her sorry self out of bed on a school morning at 7:00am, getting up at 4:00am on the morning of our trip came with amazing ease. And speed. I think I slept some that night but the recent TV ad with the little boy and later the dad saying "We're too excited to sleep!" kept repeating in my head so I can't say with any certainty if I really slept. Matters not it does. Grumpy and Silly also woke with alarming speed and cheerfulness, and even Sleepy cast off his moniker that morning and practically jumped out of bed. Disney will do that to you! No one wanted to bother with breakfast (who can eat at that hour?!) so with minimal delay we were piled into the van and FINALLY on our way!

I ought to interject here that while I was genuinely thrilled to be traveling with my in-laws (I was....You can stop choking now. Please.), our last trip to WDW together ended on a rather sour note so I was harboring just the tiniest bit of fear that we would touch upon that tension again. I love Mil from the bottom of my heart, but while we share an insane craziness over all things Disney, we can clash over the most basic of other things. But, since I had played a major role in getting them to come along on this trip, and had offered loads of advice on making it a great one, I was determined to hold the upper four-fingered white-gloved hand. DisneyNerd-wannabe's, follow me!!

I'm no good at remembering the funny little things that are said or done on a trip, and would really be nerdy if I carried a little notebook in my fanny pack to write it all down when it happens, so there won't be so much of that in this TR. Most of my memories are of the bigger picture and certain events. It was a good flight (this from a non-flyer) and by the time we began our decent into Orlando, I was beside myself with giddiness.

By the way, a mom of 3 boys all under the age of 10 who has managed to hold on to her sanity long enough to actually reach the age of 40, is entitled to embarrass said boys while on her dream vacation to celebrate that birthday!

I imagine most of you reading here on the DIS have experienced Orlando International Airport, but on the off chance there's someone who hasn't, please allow me to enlighten you: the Disney Magic begins from the moment you get off the plane. Even though you still have to ride a little mini-Monorail to get to the main terminal, rest assured there is a sign of some sort bearing the image of the Mouse Himself right there at the gates. I'm surprised little flags don't drop down out of the oxygen-mask panels upon landing! Why wait to even get off the aircraft?! (and, if you're a DISer, your flag would have a LGMHPC on it!).

Anyway, having read various reports on the sometimes-not-so-Magical-Express bus service, I approached that with a bit of trepidation. Foiled again! As we followed our signs to the lower level of Side A, there was a smiling face to greet us and direct us to ME check-in. About a minute later we were heading to the Port Orleans-bound bus and on our way very shortly thereafter. Hmm...must have pegged the timing on that one.

Right about here would be a good place for a picture of a ME bus. But I don't have one. Which annoys me no end. Granted I did take over 300 photos over the course of 7 days, but I had wanted to snap the little details - like a bus! - to fully capture the moments. Must have been having one of my Magical Mom Moments where I was just too caught up in it all to actually have the where-with-all to think to grab the camera. I did that a lot.

This is also a good place to say that, unless you're a timing freak who has to be in control of it all, Magical Express rocks! Is it the fastest way to get to the World?....certainly not. But it got us where we wanted to go without too much delay, and I didn't have to carry ONE piece of luggage! You check your bags at your point of departure and *BOOM* - they show up in your room a few hours later. Gotta love it.

I think the real transformation started when we got to Port Orleans Riverside. I had heard so much about this resort but it's beauty stunned me. I love the South anyway, so this was MY resort. It's got this grand elogance about it as you enter the foyer with the huge ceiling. Light pours in from everywhere and just swallows you up.... *ahem* oh yes, where were we...

Since it was barely noontime, there was no line for check-in, and I was greeted by more Disney Magic. The cheerful woman behind the counter welcomed our family, confirmed our package components, gave me a folder full of all manner of Disney propaganda, told me our room was ready and gave me the all-powerful Keys to the World! She then whipped out a map and proceeded to diagram out the best route to our room. I could feel cold sweat beginning to form on the back of my neck....Yes, I had heard how beautiful POR was but I had also read - right here on the DIS - how huge and sprawling it is and that people actually disappear into its belly and are never seen again!!!!!!!!!!......no, not really on that last part. But thus began the one component of our Magical Disney Vacation that could threaten to destroy the Magic.

And we got lost.

Not just that time, either. After actually finding our room, we foolishly turned around an left it a short time later to head to a park. We got lost again.

Coming back for dinner later that day?....got lost. I think it was mid-day on Day 2 before we finally had our route memorized with a few choice landmarks. There might have been shorter ways to get where we wanted to go, but they were fraught with danger and peril. You stick with what you know around these parts!

But just think, I was already burning calories and we hadn't even had our first free meal yet!

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[LegoMom3]

Port Orleans Riverside on our arrival day....

Can you feel the confusion here?!

Nice quiet paths at the rear of the resort

And our beloved West Depot!...just steps from our Building 34

 

[byoung]

Got to gain with free dining.

 

[tinkwannabe2]

I'm going to be a loyal reader... your writing is great!!! I also lost weight, but I am breastfeeding, which my DH calls daily liposuction. He gained 10-12 pounds, so enough for both of us!

 

[bushdianee]

I've also been on WW in WDW. Didn't lose ehile there but didn't gain too much back either. All of that walking has to help!

 

[Patsfan7]

DH and I went in the beginning of September and we were on the Dining Plan. I lost 8 pounds on the trip. I think it was just too hot to eat It took my appetite away so I ended up eating only half of my meal and never made it to dessert.

I gained your 8!!!!! 9 days free dining = +8lbs!

 

[LegoMom3]

Phew....I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get back to this TR. A week without Internet access is enough to frazzle even the strongest nerves, if you are dealing with someone like me who needs a daily dose of e-mail and the DIS. I feel like I've lost my groove here, but Day 2 was one the best for me so I'll give it a go and toss in lots of pictures!


By the end of our arrival day, the 4:00am wake-up was catching up with us all. Even me. Mil and Fil joined us for dinner at Boatwright's that evening, for the most amazing meal we ended up having all week. And I say that as a plug for Boatwright's, and not due to every place else having yucky food! I did a brief review of our dining experience, and you can read that here .

After dinner we went for a quick swim on Ol' Man Island. The kids thought this was SO cool - swimming at night and all when they would usually be in bed. Oh, if they only knew of things to come! Actually, as it turned out, they would have been thrilled to just swim all week long.... Note to self: save many $$$$ next time and skip the park tickets.

As we headed back to our room to call it a day, I reminded everyone (as I had countless times over the previous month) that the next morning was EMH at the Magic Kingdom, and how much I wanted to be there for park opening. We had a 9:30 breakfast at the Crystal Palace, so the EMH would work out perfectly for us. I also told Hubby that I had every intention of going, even if nobody else was up. He said ok. I repeated myself, just to be sure we were clear on this! Yep, got it, said he.

Here at home, we have to be up no later than 7:00am during the week to get the boys up and ready for school. It about kills me. Yet somehow, every morning of our trip save for one, I was wide awake at 6:00am, and out the door a scant 15 minutes later!....to power walk. Well, not power-walk like you see in the Olympics, but a good brisk stroll. It's a Disney thing. Must be. Maybe it's in the water, or the food, or something you inhale off your pillow case overnight. Anyway, on the morning of Day 2, our first full day, I was pouring coffee into those refillable mugs (bought on THIS trip, for all of you out there keeping track! ) at 6:20am. The food court, by the way, is surprisingly busy at that hour! Not mobbed like it would be 2 or 3 hours later, but I was hardly the only one in there. Grabbed a couple of bottles of juice for the kids, swiped the ol' snack credits off the card, and was on my way back to greet my equally-excited family at the [literal] dawn of this glorious day!

Except they were all still asleep.

SOUND asleep.

I put the juice in the fridge, sipped some coffee behind that nice little privacy curtain in the sink area, and pondered my options. I had wanted to be heading to the bus stop by 7:15 to be at the MK gate before opening. It was now around 6:45. I rubbed Hubby gently on the shoulder. He snored in reply. Sleepy seemed to be coming around so I rubbed his arm, too, and said something like "Good morning, buddy!" He rolled back over. Grumpy can be just that first thing in the morning, so I steered clear of him. Gave it a go with Silly.... nothin'. Well, isn't this a fix!

Shortly after 7:00, I wrote a note saying I would meet everyone for breakfast, grabbed the essentials like my Key to the World card, the cell phone, and Pal Mickey, and out the door went I!!! Never looked back, either. I had given them fair warning, and made a valiant effort to wake them. Mom wants to experience a MK opening and darn it, Mom will!

Thus began my most magical, memorable morning.

Because we were so close to the West Depot bus stop, and it was indeed an early-open day at the Magic Kingdom, I was on a bus in no time. Didn't have a lot of company here, either. Hmm, maybe they only put that stuff on select pillow cases. The rest of my family didn't get it, that's for sure! The sun was literally still coming up as we made our way through the maze of Disney-property roads. There was mist rising from the ponds and wet grassy areas. I saw a deer and her twin fawns grazing at the edge of some woods! Saw a hot-air balloon in the distance. Saw tons and tons of beautiful birds that you really only get to see in the South (I'm a birder; this was cool to me). As I got off the bus and walked towards the gate, I snapped a couple of sunrise pics...

Over the Contemporary...

Early light on the Grand Floridian...

THE MAGIC KINGDOM!...

The opening was a blast!! I'd never experienced one before, and 40 years old or not, I got into it and thoroughly enjoyed myself! The fire chief comes out and gets everyone's attention, then the dancers do a little jig and you get more excited, then the train arrives with all the characters (by this time you're about to bust!), and finally Mickey himself comes out and you all count down from 10 to officially open the park!!!!!!!

When the rope dropped and the masses swarmed in to rush to Fantasyland, I lingered a bit to take it all in. THIS was what I'd waited for!

Main Street and the castle are particularly magical early in the morning, in that fresh start-of-the-day light, with very few people around. You can actually hear the background music, and it's worth it to slow down and savor the moment. So many people miss this part of Disney! My family included...

Notice here what Hubby came to lovingly refer to as "Cinderella's Crane!"

Very quiet away from Fantasyland!

For the next hour, I toured Fantasyland all by myself and IT WAS GREAT! When it finally dawned on me that I could do or ride anything I wanted to without taking a vote on it, I promptly took in Small World, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, and, simply because I'd never in my life ridden it before, Snow White's Scary Adventures! And even though you are limited to Fantasyland during the morning EMH, the crowds were very low and I walked onto all the rides with no more than a 1-minute wait.

Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I made a call to our room just to be sure the males in my party were indeed up and would be there in time for breakfast.

And I will tell that tale, NEXT time!

 

[averill94]

Loving this! Good for you venturing out on your own. I love the pictures too. Time goes too fast at Disney - I need two extra days just to smell the roses.

Thank you for sharing

 

[lexmelinda]

Great trip report! We were at POR from 9/23-9/30. Were you one of those early morning walkers every day while I was sitting like a lazy slob on the bench outside Bldg. 18 drinking coffee?? I applaud your early morning trip to Fantasyland. I left a few people behind most days but I'm lucky to have at least one always-early-riser in my family...besides me that is. Can't wait to hear more about your birthday trip. BTW....pictures are fantastic!

 

[LegoMom3]

I've had this TR in the back of my mind over the last few days...Knowing I need to get back in here and finish it already, before it ends up so far back in the forum pages that it disappears from memory. But I keep stalling. I want to finish it, but I don't necessarily want to write it. Makes a ton of sense, huh?!

I have wonderful, precious memories of this trip. But mostly they're in my head, and hard to put to "paper." I've come to the conclusion that I just cannot do a day-by-day account of our trip! At least not without sounding like "we did this, we saw that...blah blah blah." I know when I read someone else's TR, I do it because it takes me back, and maybe if I'm lucky, there are some pictures too.

So, I think perhaps I'll take a bit of a different angle from this point on. I'll try to point out the highlights and such, and of course post more pictures. There's gotta be pictures!! That's something I do, and if I may be so bold, do fairly well. I guess I could have just put up a photo montage but sometimes you need SOME words!

Ahem.....

So where were we?...oh yeah, about to have breakfast at Crystal Palace. This was "mom's" meal this trip. I LOVE Winnie the Pooh and friends and was SO excited to eat here!!! Fortunately so were my boys, so at least I didn't look all that weird. I am the type of person who is awed by all the details at Disney World, and just sucks up atmoshere like a big ol' Hoover! When I walked in and looked up at that atrium, yep, I was awed! But since you can only stand around gazing up with your mouth gaping for so long, even at Disney, alas I made my way to the table with everyone else. Sleepy was particularly excited to see all the characters making the rounds. Silly missed out on a couple of photo ops due to being slightly grumpy (not to be confused with Grumpy with a capital "G!"). He's like that in the morning sometimes. Heck he's like that all day sometimes. Ok, more often than not these days, but we're off track here.

Me, Sleepy and Silly.....with Piglet!!!!!!!!!

After breakfast we ventured out to explore the rest of the Magic Kingdom. Since we were next to Adventureland, it made sense to head that way, and besides the kids wanted to go up the Treehouse.

And so we did.

My boys wanted to live in that treehouse. What kid wouldn't?! Actually, if I could get away with it, I'd do it!!! Anything to get to stay.

The next request was for the Jungle Cruise. It had a 20 or 30 minute wait.

FastPass!

While we were waiting for our FastPass time, we rode the Magic Carpets of Alladin. This next statement could get me shot, but basically it's Dumbo with a mid-eastern theme.

Except for that darn camel.

The one that spits....

Not only did I get hit by the camel, I got hit right between my sunglasses and my eye - what are the odds!?? Never expected that one!

Since, like all rides that take a day to load, it was over in 90 seconds, we also had time to take in Pirates of the Carribean before our JC FastPass return time.

I was soooo excited to see the new, revamped ride. We had just enough time in the queue to take in the anticipation and really soak it all up (there's that Hoover again...). We finally all loaded into a boat, were cast out into inky darkness, and at the same moment we saw the mist waterfall with that awesome projection on it.....

....Camera Guy two rows up throws on the video flood light right into our faces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mil and Fil, who were in front of us and right behind this guy, had to shield their faces or risk becoming blind for life. After about 30 seconds of enduring this crass lack of respect for anyone else's enjoyment of this ride, Hubby finally yells out "Will you TURN THAT OFF!!!!!!!!!!!! They did. End of story.

Well, not really, the ride was just beginning, but we got to see the rest of it the way it was meant to be seen. It was awesome, too, by the way, in case you haven't seen it yet!

At the conclusion of Pirates, as with most Disney rides, you are deposited into a mass merchandising display full of neat and often utterly useless tidbits all themed to the ride you just joyously experienced. And it's all for sale! After listening to Sleepy and Silly exclaim how much they HAD to have this particular sword, I managed to drag them out of the merchandising hysteria and in the general direction of Jungle Cruise, where the FastPass Return Line awaited us. This came, of course, with promises that we'd be back at some point and yes, most likely they could have the swords.

*Note to self: refrain from purchasing simulated weaponry for active boys until END of trip.*

Jungle Cruise, despite having a FastPass line, will never, ever be a fast loading ride. We certainly didn't wait the now-almost-an-hour that the Stand-by saps - I mean folks - did, but still we had to snake out way through that deceivingly serpentined line to queue up for a boat. Thank God someone had the foresight to put most of it under a canopy! Did I mention it was hot that day? It was hot that day. Not Florida-in-July hot, but for a Yankee northerner, it was hot.

It's h-o-t.....in Topeka! It's h-o-t. In To - pe - ka.....

Whoa!...total side-track there! It's an inside joke and if you're not familiar with Bloo from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, then just don't ask.

One thing I really screwed up on with this trip was not taking photos of Cast Members like I wanted to. I like to personalize a photo story, and so much of the Disney magic is provied by these lovely people. This pic of our Cruise captain is the ONE Cast Member shot I got all week. But she was good! Your boat captain can really make or break this ride, and she was fantastic.

She even pointed out the rare and dangerous African wildlife we'd see along our journey. Like the solitary & elusive....duck!

After parting ways with Mil and Fil a short while later, we headed to Tomorrowland before leaving the park. We'd been there many, many hours and by now the boys all wanted to go swim. But since Grumpy had really wanted to try Space Mountain, we agreed we'd at least check out the wait. We took the train from Frontierland to Mickey's Toontown Fair, and walked that nice quiet little path from there to Tomorrowland. It gave us a few minutes away from the crowds and I found some neat Alice in Wonderland theming along the way!

What we discovered when we got to Tomorrowland, was that everybody was someplace else! It was SO quiet there! Hubby and Grumpy walked on to Space Mt, twice in a row! Sleepy and Silly and I rode the WEDway (Tomorrowland Transit Authority to all you newbies) twice while they did that. We love that ride. No further explanation needed. You either do or you don't.

By the time we all met up again to call it a day, there were some neat characters out but of course my camera battery chose that moment to give up the ghost, and of course I hadn't packed the reserve in my bag that day. So I missed some prime photo ops - complete with hardly any waiting line! - with Stitch and Buzz and someone else who I can't now recall. I wasn't happy, but our resort pool was calling.

And we answered.

 

[lexmelinda]

When I walked in and looked up at that atrium, yep, I was awed! But since you can only stand around gazing up with your mouth gaping for so long, even at Disney,

That would be me at the Grand Floridian. Did you go there?

My boys wanted to live in that treehouse. What kid wouldn't?!

My son would not rest until he had seen the tree house. The girls never asked to do this. Just a boy-thing I guess.

It's h-o-t.....in Topeka! It's h-o-t. In To - pe - ka.....

Hilarious! My son is a hot toe picker. I think he knows every word of Bloo's little Hot in Topeka scene

Hubby and Grumpy walked on to Space Mt, twice in a row!

Never, never going back if it's not September. Despite the love bugs, the low crowds made our trip.

 

[LegoMom3]

.....Never, never going back if it's not September. Despite the love bugs, the low crowds made our trip.

This is a good place to comment on both the bugs and the crowds!

Love Bugs: I had read about them for the first time here on the DIS, just weeks before our trip. On our first afternoon, at Animal Kingdom, we were swarmed by these things!! I don't have a general bug phobia so I found them no more than annoying, but annoying they were! Oh my gosh they are EVERY where! We barely encountered them at MK or Epcot, but they were out at MGM and all over the place at AK. Guess even Love Bugs know where the animals are welcome!

Crowds: this was our 2nd September trip and I'm likely to agree with the above quote! When you can walk onto rides like Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Soarin' (yes, Soarin'!!), and Test Track, you know it's a good time to go! The only times we found the parks to be "busy" with waits in excess of 40 minutes was the evening EMH parks. Of course that's where everyone wants to go in the first place, and then there are only certain attractions that are open, and on top of that they weren't doing FastPass for any of those. We loved the morning EMH but will not do evening EMH in the future, at any time of year.

 

[MEK]

Enjoying your trip report and your wonderful pictures. Keep going! I give you credit for getting up and going to MK on your own. That is something I never thought of doing, but might have to on my next trip!

p.s. Is it freezing in NH yet????

 

[Grammyof2]

Your pictures are awesome!!!!!

And September is a great time for low crowds despite the lovebugs.

 

[LegoMom3]

Enjoying your trip report and your wonderful pictures. Keep going! I give you credit for getting up and going to MK on your own. That is something I never thought of doing, but might have to on my next trip!

p.s. Is it freezing in NH yet????

MK on my own was soooo cool. I could actually do a whole WDW trip by myself - maybe not for a full week, but a good 3 or 4 days anway. I love my family but I also need and thrive on "solo" time to myself! One part of the World I'd love to do myself someday is World Showcase.

Oh and yes, we're fairly well freezing our little patooties off here in NH.... Not happy about that!!!!!! I really want to live where palm trees grow!

p.s. At least we haven't gotten snow yet, like Buffalo last week and Denver yesterday!!!! Brrr...

 

[tammyandtommy]

Lego... we just got back from POR we were also in the same area you were in, and yes we got lost alot tooo! Glad to hear you had a good time alone, when I tried to be alone.... well it just didnt happen! LOL Keep the story coming!