Just back from our trip (Spring Break March 12th-20th

[Gophers]

What a magical time. We were at Universal for two days and Disney for five. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and just had a blast. Went to Disney Springs three times during the trip and can't wait for them to finish. I can see how Disney wants to make this a destination spot and not just an after thought.
Universal was fun with the new Harry Potter in US. The crowds were out of control and made it extremely hard to go through the shops in HP. Lockers in both HP was nuts. No where near big enough for all the people trying to get in there since you can't bring electronics on the rides (was able to have cell phone if it was in your pocket). Raptor Encounter was a cool meet and greet experience and we had dinner at CowFish and that was really good.
Disney was just magical of course.

• Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Wonderful experience in the Royal Room
• Fulton's gift shop is amazing. Probably one of the best in the resorts.
• Transportation with the buses was good and bad. Plenty of buses but always having to stand.
• Ferry ride to Disney Springs was great. Didn't take long and relaxing.
• Two days at MK and did everything we wanted to.
• Cinderella's castle breakfast was great for character meet and greet. Food was ok.
• BOG was really good at lunch.
• Wishes was very good for watching the fireworks. Deserts are just ok but the family really enjoyed it.
• Disappointed in 7DMT. It was ok but was expecting more of a thrill ride. BTMR is much better to me.
• Overall we had a great job at the parks. HS was great with RR coaster and TOT, Toy Story and Fantasmic. We ate at 50's café and had a blast. Got the airplane treatment for not eating all my vegies but it was a lot of food.
• Meet and Greet with Kylo Ren was awesome. Most of the family wasn't sure they wanted to go but we had the Chase CC and walk right up using the back entrance. The experience caught everyone off guard and the interaction with Kylo was fantastic.
• Grand baby lead the young Jedi to the Jedi academy and she got to battle with the darkside.
• AK was fun and we always enjoy Tusker House for breakfast
• Safari was really good
• Everest was awesome and Dinosaur was very good.
• Took a lot of pictures using our Memory Maker and did some of the small shows like Tough to be a bug.
• Went to Ohana and had the Pineapple drink....wow! Food was great and was able to watch the fireworks at MK.
• Epcot was good but no Soaring right now so we did Test track at rope drop and Test track at FP time and then the worlds. Ate and drank all afternoon. Used the night time for Disney Springs.

Overall we had a great time and we are already starting the planning for 2018 Thanksgiving/Christmas time. Now that we stayed at a Resort we will always stay at a resort. You never leave the Disney experience and it was truly a magical trip.

 

[BigAlsGal]

What a magical time. We were at Universal for two days and Disney for five. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and just had a blast. Went to Disney Springs three times during the trip and can't wait for them to finish. I can see how Disney wants to make this a destination spot and not just an after thought.
Universal was fun with the new Harry Potter in US. The crowds were out of control and made it extremely hard to go through the shops in HP. Lockers in both HP was nuts. No where near big enough for all the people trying to get in there since you can't bring electronics on the rides (was able to have cell phone if it was in your pocket). Raptor Encounter was a cool meet and greet experience and we had dinner at CowFish and that was really good.
Disney was just magical of course.

• Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Wonderful experience in the Royal Room
• Fulton's gift shop is amazing. Probably one of the best in the resorts.
• Transportation with the buses was good and bad. Plenty of buses but always having to stand.
• Ferry ride to Disney Springs was great. Didn't take long and relaxing.
• Two days at MK and did everything we wanted to.
• Cinderella's castle breakfast was great for character meet and greet. Food was ok.
• BOG was really good at lunch.
• Wishes was very good for watching the fireworks. Deserts are just ok but the family really enjoyed it.
• Disappointed in 7DMT. It was ok but was expecting more of a thrill ride. BTMR is much better to me.
• Overall we had a great job at the parks. HS was great with RR coaster and TOT, Toy Story and Fantasmic. We ate at 50's café and had a blast. Got the airplane treatment for not eating all my vegies but it was a lot of food.
• Meet and Greet with Kylo Ren was awesome. Most of the family wasn't sure they wanted to go but we had the Chase CC and walk right up using the back entrance. The experience caught everyone off guard and the interaction with Kylo was fantastic.
• Grand baby lead the young Jedi to the Jedi academy and she got to battle with the darkside.
• AK was fun and we always enjoy Tusker House for breakfast
• Safari was really good
• Everest was awesome and Dinosaur was very good.
• Took a lot of pictures using our Memory Maker and did some of the small shows like Tough to be a bug.
• Went to Ohana and had the Pineapple drink....wow! Food was great and was able to watch the fireworks at MK.
• Epcot was good but no Soaring right now so we did Test track at rope drop and Test track at FP time and then the worlds. Ate and drank all afternoon. Used the night time for Disney Springs.

Overall we had a great time and we are already starting the planning for 2018 Thanksgiving/Christmas time. Now that we stayed at a Resort we will always stay at a resort. You never leave the Disney experience and it was truly a magical trip.

Yay! So glad to hear! Huge fan of PoR myself.

 

[hill6]

Wow I didn't know about the Kylo Ren M&G till I read your report. I just printed out the info on it so we can skip the line

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Glad you had a great time! We are coming up on 30 days!

 

[tammilynne]

Sounds like a great trip

 

[littlbugmom]

Love hearing about the magic.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Yay! I love hearing about magical trips from people on the DIS! Glad you and your family had a good time!

 

[loves to dive]

Glad to hear you had a good trip and thank you for sharing, you hear a lot of complaints on how the magic is gone and it's impossible to have a good time.

 

[disneyfam31]

What a magical time. We were at Universal for two days and Disney for five. Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and just had a blast. Went to Disney Springs three times during the trip and can't wait for them to finish. I can see how Disney wants to make this a destination spot and not just an after thought.
Universal was fun with the new Harry Potter in US. The crowds were out of control and made it extremely hard to go through the shops in HP. Lockers in both HP was nuts. No where near big enough for all the people trying to get in there since you can't bring electronics on the rides (was able to have cell phone if it was in your pocket). Raptor Encounter was a cool meet and greet experience and we had dinner at CowFish and that was really good.
Disney was just magical of course.

• Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. Wonderful experience in the Royal Room
• Fulton's gift shop is amazing. Probably one of the best in the resorts.
• Transportation with the buses was good and bad. Plenty of buses but always having to stand.
• Ferry ride to Disney Springs was great. Didn't take long and relaxing.
• Two days at MK and did everything we wanted to.
• Cinderella's castle breakfast was great for character meet and greet. Food was ok.
• BOG was really good at lunch.
• Wishes was very good for watching the fireworks. Deserts are just ok but the family really enjoyed it.
• Disappointed in 7DMT. It was ok but was expecting more of a thrill ride. BTMR is much better to me.
• Overall we had a great job at the parks. HS was great with RR coaster and TOT, Toy Story and Fantasmic. We ate at 50's café and had a blast. Got the airplane treatment for not eating all my vegies but it was a lot of food.
• Meet and Greet with Kylo Ren was awesome. Most of the family wasn't sure they wanted to go but we had the Chase CC and walk right up using the back entrance. The experience caught everyone off guard and the interaction with Kylo was fantastic.
• Grand baby lead the young Jedi to the Jedi academy and she got to battle with the darkside.
• AK was fun and we always enjoy Tusker House for breakfast
• Safari was really good
• Everest was awesome and Dinosaur was very good.
• Took a lot of pictures using our Memory Maker and did some of the small shows like Tough to be a bug.
• Went to Ohana and had the Pineapple drink....wow! Food was great and was able to watch the fireworks at MK.
• Epcot was good but no Soaring right now so we did Test track at rope drop and Test track at FP time and then the worlds. Ate and drank all afternoon. Used the night time for Disney Springs.

Overall we had a great time and we are already starting the planning for 2018 Thanksgiving/Christmas time. Now that we stayed at a Resort we will always stay at a resort. You never leave the Disney experience and it was truly a magical trip.

So glad you had a wonderful trip! We are heading down in May for a similar stay (5) days at wdw and (2) at universal. A couple of questions:

1. Did you go to universal on back to back days or spread the days out over your trip?

2. Did you use express pass at universal? If so, was it worth the cost?

3. Did you make reservations for cowfish? If not, was it a long wait?

4. We plan to eat at Ragland Road in Disney Springs but have another night down there without reservations yet. Did you have a favorite restaurant there?

Thank you!!!

 

[AllieBoo]

I agree about the gift shop at POR, it is one of the best! I also thought BOG lunch was good.
Glad you had a wonderful trip!

 

[A State Of Autumn]

I'm thinking of staying at POR next visit as well. Sounds fantastic!

 

[soniam]

Your trip sounds similar to ours just 2 weeks ago now and the one last Spring Break. We were supposed to stay at POR again even, but moved to CBR in case the main pool wasn't open. We did Universal too and enjoyed Disney Springs a lot. We did the Kylo Ren Visa meet too and liked Cowfish as well. It sounds like we picked the right trips

 

[DWillowBay]

So happy that you had a great trip!

 

[js]

sounds line you had a great trip!

Who is Kylo Ren? Is it a character? My kids are 22 and 18 so maybe I am of tthe loop lol

Cant wait to see he new Disney Springs!

Thanks.

 

[OB1]

great report. Thanks for sharing

 

[Delirium]

sounds line you had a great trip!

Who is Kylo Ren? Is it a character? My kids are 22 and 18 so maybe I am of tthe loop lol

Cant wait to see he new Disney Springs!

Thanks.

New Star Wars movie character.

 

[EmmasGrammy]

Thanks for sharing your experience in a positive way . So much negativity lately .

Could you please tell me where you stayed at POR ? And did you have crowded bus service for your entire trip ?

 

[Gophers]

So glad you had a wonderful trip! We are heading down in May for a similar stay (5) days at wdw and (2) at universal. A couple of questions:

1. Did you go to universal on back to back days or spread the days out over your trip?

2. Did you use express pass at universal? If so, was it worth the cost?

3. Did you make reservations for cowfish? If not, was it a long wait?

4. We plan to eat at Ragland Road in Disney Springs but have another night down there without reservations yet. Did you have a favorite restaurant there?

Thank you!!!

1. Yes we did go to Universal on back to back days. Rode the train between parks either 3 or 4 times. Never a long wait for the train.
2. Yes we used express pass. Wont do it any other way. Just can't stand waiting in lines even if its 30 minutes. With the express pass I would say the longest we waited at Universal maybe 10 minutes and that was a show.
3. Didn't make reservations and we were had a table in about 25 minutes. Food was good and I had a great margarita!
4. Without a reservation it is a little harder and the wait will be longer. We always like Ohana but I don't know if you can get in without a reservation. Most of the places we went like "Hoop Dee Doo" was with reservation. By the way that show was awesome! Food was all you can eat and the entertainment was very good. Family friendly. Ragland road was still a 30 minute wait with the reservation.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Sounds awesome!! I too loved Tusker House and BOG for lunch, good choices!!!

 

[Gophers]

Your trip sounds similar to ours just 2 weeks ago now and the one last Spring Break. We were supposed to stay at POR again even, but moved to CBR in case the main pool wasn't open. We did Universal too and enjoyed Disney Springs a lot. We did the Kylo Ren Visa meet too and liked Cowfish as well. It sounds like we picked the right trips

That's awesome. Sounds like we did do a lot of the same things. We setup a last minute reservation for Hoop Dee Do and that was really good. Disney Springs was great and I just can't wait for when we go back to see it finished.