July 2012. Yes it was hot. Yes it was crowded. Yes it was FUN! ***COMPLETED***

[solana131]

Great update!!! can't wait for more.. the rooms looks awesome - i've stayed at CBR, CSR but neither of the POR.. maybe next trip!

CSR is on my list to try. I just love the room decor they have.

And I loved both Riverside and French Quarter. I am sure due to budget reasons, I will be returning to them again in the near future. But if money was no object, I would stay at the Poly every time! I was really spoiled by staying there as my first Disney hotel and now I just compare everything to the Poly. It's not fair I know, because they are so totally different. I highly recommend French Quarter to those who want a smaller resort, and Riverside to those that want the "country" feel vs "in-town" feel. They are sister resorts, so you can still eat at both food courts....use both pools....etc, but FQ was so much smaller. There is only one bus stop at FQ where there are 4 at Riverside. We shared buses with Riverside almost every time which was a big pain. I kinda figured with it being so busy, they would have dedicated buses, but they didn't other than park opening.

 

[cheekypoppins]

OOhhhh you just gave me an idea,I'm not sure if your sweater organiser is the same thing or not but I have a hangy thingy for the closet( I just never thought to bring it to Disney)Good PLan thanks

 

[solana131]

OOhhhh you just gave me an idea,I'm not sure if your sweater organiser is the same thing or not but I have a hangy thingy for the closet( I just never thought to bring it to Disney)Good PLan thanks

Oh it was a lifesaver on this trip. In the hotter summer months you don't have a lot that hangs, so the one bar in the bathroom doesn't do much for you. The 3 drawers in the bureau were really big drawers, but there were only 3 of them in a room for 4 people Didn't make sense to me. The Poly had a separate closet area in the entryway and in one of the closets there were shelves in addition to the drawers in the bureau. Definitely bring your hanging organizer. Mine is a Honey-can-do hanging sweater organizer from Amazon, but they have them all over the place. I'm sure it's the same thing.

The tip I read said she used one for each child and she would put together an outfit for each day right down to the socks and underwear and each little "shelf" in the organizer was for a different day. That way her kids could just go to the organizer and pull out a complete outfit for that day without her having to help them. Great idea!

 

[RHMH]

Solana - After Midori and I read your trip report about POFQ, we got home sick. Did not even see allof the hidden MKY's. I guess I was not paying attention. We were in building 7 on the other end on the corner, Garden / River view. We got lucky with the PIXIE DUST.

Can't believe we stayed at POFQ at the same time and did not run into each other. But it was nice seeing you and your cousin at Polynesian Resort.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Mad...I cannot see your pictures!!!

Nice description of POFQ though....it does sound lovely!

 

[anjalee6]

Everything sounds really nice! Before our cruise next June/July we currently booked POFQ so it's nice to see pictures since the refurb. Can't wait to hear more. And the closet organizer you brought sounds wonderful. Will have to keep that in mind for our November trip.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I love the leisurely pace you and Dani were able to enjoy MK on your arrival day! Like you said, taking time to just to soak in the atmosphere of Main Street on her first visit makes such a difference. The monorail ride to Epcot was also a good idea for a first-timer. Sort of an overview of the layout of the World, AND you get to see the "giant golf ball" on the ride. It just dawned on me that after all of the recent trips to WDW, we have yet to have taken the monorail to Epcot!

 

[solana131]

Solana - After Midori and I read your trip report about POFQ, we got home sick. Did not even see allof the hidden MKY's. I guess I was not paying attention. We were in building 7 on the other end on the corner, Garden / River view. We got lucky with the PIXIE DUST.

Can't believe we stayed at POFQ at the same time and did not run into each other. But it was nice seeing you and your cousin at Polynesian Resort.

I know! I looked for you guys everytime we were out walking around FQ too. I guess it is just because A)we were on opposite ends of the resort and B)we weren't at the resort much But glad we caught up that night for my first DISmeet

Mad...I cannot see your pictures!!!

Nice description of POFQ though....it does sound lovely!

Well hopefully you can see the pics soon!

Everything sounds really nice! Before our cruise next June/July we currently booked POFQ so it's nice to see pictures since the refurb. Can't wait to hear more. And the closet organizer you brought sounds wonderful. Will have to keep that in mind for our November trip.

Oh, you will love it! It is a nice resort. I was surprised though at how worn the rooms looked. It's only been a few months since the refurb and already the carpets were showing wear and the door was banged up and broken on our room. You know that knob that sticks out so you can lock the door from the inside (like a chain lock)?? Well that knob was broken off, so we couldn't lock it. But I wasn't worried....I am a very light sleeper, so I knew if someone came in our room at night, I would hear them. I never felt unsafe, or I would've asked for that to be fixed.

I love the leisurely pace you and Dani were able to enjoy MK on your arrival day! Like you said, taking time to just to soak in the atmosphere of Main Street on her first visit makes such a difference. The monorail ride to Epcot was also a good idea for a first-timer. Sort of an overview of the layout of the World, AND you get to see the "giant golf ball" on the ride. It just dawned on me that after all of the recent trips to WDW, we have yet to have taken the monorail to Epcot!

I was a great start, I think. I was constantly second guessing myself this trip. I just wanted her first trip to be good, I was constantly wondering if I was doing things right. But I think she had fun.

And yes, you HAVE to take the monorail to Epcot. Wait, didn't you stay at the Poly last time?? Why didn't you take the monorail then??

 

[KatMark]

I could have SWORN I responded to your last post.

Love that you just leisurely walked around and let Dani feel the magic and just did the People Mover. What a great plan!

And so glad your room was ready soon and that you were able to go and relax and get rested before dinner.

I've totally forgotten where you were going, so can't wait for the next update.

 

[solana131]

I could have SWORN I responded to your last post.

Love that you just leisurely walked around and let Dani feel the magic and just did the People Mover. What a great plan!

And so glad your room was ready soon and that you were able to go and relax and get rested before dinner.

I've totally forgotten where you were going, so can't wait for the next update.

Huh, I would've sworn you did too

It was a nice start. It was just too hot and too busy for us to do anything other than leisurely walk around....too many tour groups

We went to Via Napoli! Yum! That update will be coming up next. I had a crazy week dealing with some drama here at work, but hopefully we will get things worked out and I won't have to kill my boss Then I can get back to updating like a fool!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

And yes, you HAVE to take the monorail to Epcot. Wait, didn't you stay at the Poly last time?? Why didn't you take the monorail then??

I wanted to, but our Epcot day started with a before-the-park-opens ADR at Akershus and the monorail was not operating that early in the morning, so we had to drive there.

 

[RHMH]

Huh, I would've sworn you did too

It was a nice start. It was just too hot and too busy for us to do anything other than leisurely walk around....too many tour groups

We went to Via Napoli! Yum! That update will be coming up next. I had a crazy week dealing with some drama here at work, but hopefully we will get things worked out and I won't have to kill my boss Then I can get back to updating like a fool!

Solana - Sorry about the drama, I am going through the same thing. My Boss just hired his wife and son..... OMG you talk about DRAMA .. Bring the pic's and reviews on, I am ready for them.

Lucy, Midori's Friend os coming with us next July. YAY - Midori is very excited.

Midori, Lucy and I are getting ready to get on the train to go to Dallas.

Khloe waved at Midori and Lucy.

 

[Angies1274]

Hi Joining in! It sounds like it's going to be a fun TR!

Congratulations to Dani! What a wonderful way to celebrate her accomplishment!!

Great idea to head to the MK first! Nothing better than seeing the castle. We were so glad to see that scrim was down on the bakery as well. (no obstructed view of the castle) I think they took it down a week before we got there. I was so happy!

Great choice picking the People Mover as the first ride. We rode for the first time on our July trip and loved it!

Love your pictures of POFQ. What a beautiful resort! I love all the Hidden Mickey's everywhere! I'm going to have to steal your hanging sweater organizer idea. We could have really used the extra space in our room. Four small drawers for four people didn't really cut it.

Can't wait for more!

 

[solana131]

I wanted to, but our Epcot day started with a before-the-park-opens ADR at Akershus and the monorail was not operating that early in the morning, so we had to drive there.

Oh yeah....I forgot. Now I remember reading that Well, definitely do it next time...even if you are not staying on the monorail. It's a great view of Future World.

Solana - Sorry about the drama, I am going through the same thing. My Boss just hired his wife and son..... OMG you talk about DRAMA .. Bring the pic's and reviews on, I am ready for them.

Lucy, Midori's Friend os coming with us next July. YAY - Midori is very excited.

Yep, I can see how that would be full of Drama. Our business is family run too. The father was boss when I started and he has handed it to the son. One brother-in-law works here and both sisters get a piece of it too.

That's great that Midori will have a friend along next time! Have you ever brought anyone else, or has it always been just the two of you? And will this be Lucy's first trip? Fun fun fun!

Hi Joining in! It sounds like it's going to be a fun TR!

Congratulations to Dani! What a wonderful way to celebrate her accomplishment!!

Great idea to head to the MK first! Nothing better than seeing the castle. We were so glad to see that scrim was down on the bakery as well. (no obstructed view of the castle) I think they took it down a week before we got there. I was so happy!

Great choice picking the People Mover as the first ride. We rode for the first time on our July trip and loved it!

Love your pictures of POFQ. What a beautiful resort! I love all the Hidden Mickey's everywhere! I'm going to have to steal your hanging sweater organizer idea. We could have really used the extra space in our room. Four small drawers for four people didn't really cut it.

Can't wait for more!

Yay! Welcome....thanks for hopping over. I love your TR too!

Thanks for the compliments We are all pretty proud of Dani. I'm glad I had this opportunity to spend some fun time with her before she goes off to college!

POFQ was a very nice resort. We enjoyed it.


Gotta run and get my hair done. Update coming tomorrow....I hope.

 

[RHMH]

Yep, I can see how that would be full of Drama. Our business is family run too. The father was boss when I started and he has handed it to the son. One brother-in-law works here and both sisters get a piece of it too.

That's great that Midori will have a friend along next time! Have you ever brought anyone else, or has it always been just the two of you? And will this be Lucy's first trip? Fun fun fun!

Solana - Yes, it will be a lot of fun for Midori. We tried to take Lucy and Kinsley this past July but financial set backs were an issue. This will be Lucy's first time. I know our agenda will change because Lucy will want to visit Characters, watch shows, shop, watch fireworks and etc.... Midori and I will adjust to our way of vacationing. Our afternoon breaks at the resort may be limited as Lucy will want to stay the biggest part of the day and night. We understand and will adjust...

 

[solana131]

Solana - Yes, it will be a lot of fun for Midori. We tried to take Lucy and Kinsley this past July but financial set backs were an issue. This will be Lucy's first time. I know our agenda will change because Lucy will want to visit Characters, watch shows, shop, watch fireworks and etc.... Midori and I will adjust to our way of vacationing. Our afternoon breaks at the resort may be limited as Lucy will want to stay the biggest part of the day and night. We understand and will adjust...

Oh that will be fun! And staying at the Poly will be easier to take breaks if Lucy wants to.

 

[solana131]

So it is about 3pm on our arrival day. We have flown from NH to FL, taken the Magical Express to POFQ, checked in, eaten lunch, played a bit at the Magic Kingdom, taken the monorail to Epcot then the bus back to FQ, and we have settled into our home for the week. Phew....isn't that enough for one day??

No?

Well okay...


So it was really hot outside...it was really cool in our room...and our beds were really really comfy. But hey, we're in Disney! We can't rest, we have to move So we psyched ourselves up for the heat and headed to the bus stop. It wasn't too bad of a wait, but in the middle of the day, we had to share with Riverside, so we made the 4 stops over there before headign out to Epcot.

As we were pulling into the parking lot it started to DOWNPOUR! I mean this rain meant business. This was our first day and I had prepared for this. So we donned our lovely Walmart ponchos and got off the bus to this.

We had to uncover to get my bag out, and it seemed to take forever to get through the bag check line, but soon we were on our way towards the big golf ball The line wasn't long at this point in the day, so we walked right on SpaceShip Earth to discover our past, present and futures.

Dani really got a kick out of these

And finally...

After we found out how environmentally friendly we would be, we came out to find that storm #1 had passed. So we shook out our ponchos and "folded" them back into my bag. We wandered around Future World for a bit. I got her to try the Beverly in Club Cool. She actually didn't think it was too bad.

Have to run for a sec. I will continue later today...

 

[solana131]

So, I knew we had an EMH morning at Epcot coming right up, so I didn't need to spend much time in Future World. But I wanted Dani to meet my favorite little purple dragon, so we walked over to World Showcase via the Figment side. She enjoyed the ride and with the Imagination song running through our heads we turned left into WS. At this point we had a couple hours before our ADR, so I planned on riding both the Mexican boat ride as well as getting Maelstrom in. Mexico was walk-on, but something happened in Norway and we ended up cutting it very very close for our ADR.

Only in Disney can you run from Norway to Italy in 5 minutes in the pouring rain....oh yes, it had started raining once again....but we made it with 5 mintues to spare.

Oh Via Napoli was AMAZING! I had scoped out the menu thanks to AllEars before we left, so I knew what we would order. We started things off with some nice refreshing Aqua Frescas. Dani had the strawberry and I had the blood orange:

I liked mine better and she liked hers better, so it worked out perfect Next up was our appetizer. Now, we weren't on the dining plan, so everything was OOP, but I did have $250 worth of giftcards and we used those up the beginning of the week. It ended up pretty close. I did have to pay for a couple things during the week, but it was way cheaper than the dining plan. That is just too much food for me. I would rather get a good room-only discount and pay for my meals.

Anyway....we ordered the "Arancini - fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu" (thanks AllEars)

Yum! These were crispy on the outside and warm, creamy, melty goodness on the inside. And the tomato sauce they have for dipping is very good too. A little sweet, but a little tangy too. Hard to describe. These were light and a great way to start out the meal.

Now on to the main event!

I had heard how large these pizza's were, but I wanted to try a couple different flavors. So we both got the individual size. Dani got the pepperoni and I got the Quattro Formaggi (four cheese).

We split them in half and it was incredible. People may think pizza is pizza, but this pizza was something else entirely. The dough was thin (which I don't usually like) and chewy and full of flavor. All the toppings were fresh and delish. Having half a red sauce and half a white sauce was great. I didn't quite finish all my pizza, but Dani managed to shove in all of hers

We were so full, but I had heard great things about Via Napoli's desserts, so I made her pick something. We both had Gelato. I had the pistachio and she had the vanilla.

Once again we tried the other's and preferred our own better. It was a great light end to a wonderful meal. The total bill was about $100, and I thought it was worth EVERY penny!

This little freaky rabbit statue was staring at us the whole time. It was weird and was even more weird because they had a sun blind pulled down, so you could barely see him out of the corner of your eye. I asked the waitress if we could lift the shade so I could see it better.

Yep, still weird

So with our bellies full and the rain over, we were able to tour around Italy for a bit. Dani thought it was just beautiful. I don't think I had ever looked around there before, so this was a first for me too.

So pretty!

We wanted to get out of there before Illuminations started (I thought we would come back later in the week) so we strolled out to Future World. Nemo had no line, so we jumped on that on our way out. Our clam cart got stuck right about here...

But soon we were done and we were EXHAUSTED! So we slowly made our way to the entrance to catch a bus back to FQ. As was our usual, we had just missed the bus. So we sat our tired butts down on that wonderfully soft concrete to wait for the next one. As soon as we got back to FQ, we crashed. It was a great first day, but we were tired!

 

[Angies1274]

Ugh! That rain looks familiar from our Epcot day. Definitely not fun!

Great pictures on Spaceship Earth!! Glad Dani liked Figment! It's one of our favorites in Future World.

I've heard such great things about Via Napoli! Everything looks so yummy!! It's on the top of our list of places to try next trip!

 

[DMGeurts]

I loved the updates Suzi... The food at Via Napoli looks TDF!!! The pistaschio gillato especially!

I know how rainy days in Epcot go - that could have been our day there as well. I am glad you all had a good time anyways.

D~