Look, ma! I made it!

[themousetrap]

The forces were against us (my car's a/c going out and my boss forgetting he approved my Disney week off among other things), but we finally made it to Port Orleans French Quarter!

After cramming all our luggage in my wife’s car (which is a compact sedan compared to my full-size - I literally had to take pics of it so I’ll know how to put it all back), we made the 12-hour journey (we stopped a lot of times) and made it to Port Orleans French Quarter.

Check in via the online check-in system was very fast. They had all my items ready and because I’ve stayed at Disney before, the guy only had to go over how the dining plan worked. We didn’t ask for it specifically, but we landed a corner room with two windows in Building 3. It’s on the far side of the building with a glorious view of the parking lot, but our location means that there will be very little traffic passing our room.

DW and I received our “Happy Anniversary” pins while DS3 got his “1st Time Visitor” pin, so we’ll wear them and see what comes of it.

After lugging all our things to the room, we went to the food court to utilize the counter service portion of our dining plan. We were satisfied with what we had, but realized that it could have been much better. It looked like ants all over a piece of cake. It felt like mass confusion trying to order and receive a meal. The decor was very nice, but the design flaw took away from a good atmosphere - even for a quick service food court.

The adult selection was pretty satisfying with things from salad to BBQ ribs. DW had fried chicken while DS3 and I had chicken nuggets. We were a little agitated at the ridiculously small selection on the so-called kid’s menu (didn’t even offer fries or any carbonated drinks!), so my fries became DS3’s fries. After 12-hours on the road eating nothing but snacks, bottled water, sunflower seeds, and Kool Aid drink mixes, any meat would have been satisfying.

After eating and debating whether or not to go catch a park-closing show, we just decided to walk around the resort. With the design of the resort, it definitely resembles New Orleans (without the authentic wear and tear) and feels like you’re walking around a small city complete with road names. It’s not to the point where you had to drop breadcrumbs to find your way back to your room, but it was pretty easy to get turned around.

I have plenty of pics and some video that I’m editing to post up on my blog, but for the time being, here’s a few pics of DS3 (my apologies if they come out too big - just let me know and I'll resize them):

http://www.crystalcranium.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ds3_florida_welcome_center.jpg

http://www.crystalcranium.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ds3_pofq_playground.jpg

http://www.crystalcranium.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ds3_pofq_room.jpg

 

[themousetrap]

After a slow start (my alarm didn't go off) and missing EMH, we finished up DHS in one go without coming back to the room for a break. We did a divide-and-conquer technique with DS3 with DW taking him on all the kiddie stuff while I embraced the horror of Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror.

With Disney Transportation service with Port Orleans, I wasn't initially happy. First, we waited for half an hour for the bus to pick us up. Then, despite the fact that there was standing room only, the driver still went to all the stops at Riverside until it was practically a sweat-laced sardine can. We left our room at 8:30 and it was on the better half of 9:30 before we did our first FastPass.

I had to return to our room while leaving DW and DS3 at the park. Why did I have to leave the park? Well, my video camera konked out on me and I forgot the digital camera's SD card in the computer. There's very little you can do in a theme park with just 7 snaps of internal memory.

My FastPass for Rockin' Roller Coaster was from 10:40 to 11:40. I was at the bus terminal at 10:20. The bus didn't pick us up until 10:40. I was unlocking my room at 11:05. The bus picked me back up at 11:20 (suprise, suprise). At 11:30, I was clearing bag check. At 11:40, I was walking up the FastPass line. You should see the pic of a first-time rider! I don't have a scanner here in the hotel room, so it'll have to wait until we get back home. I have other pics, but I'm far too tired to go through the process of making them Internet-ready.

DS3 wore his "1st Timer" pin and got more than one gift from the Cast Members who paid attention to it. They were one or two plush toys and a couple of pins, but it was better than nothing, right?

Despite reports of the contrary, Hollywood Studios is definitely doing Fantasmic twice a night. I don't know how many nights that they're running this gig, but as of Monday, June 22, 2009, there was a 9 o'clock Fantasmic and a 10:30 Fantasmic.

I don't know what it is about that show, but it is by far the best park-closing show of all the ones I've seen (Fantasmic, Illuminations, and Wishes). Well worth the 90-minute wait. If you're planning on seeing Fantasmic, most definitely line up at least an hour early or you stand the chance of being SOL. An hour out and the theater roughly at 90% capacity. Forty minutes out and all that was left was the Disney Dining Experience priority seating. Thirty minutes out, the theater was at full capacity and there was only standing room left in the back.

There was a gigantic group of field-trippers there that tried and tried and tried until they got the entire theater (including the walking vendors) to do the wave. Their antics made that hour go by a lot lot faster.

Speaking of 90 minute waits, we waited that long in line for the Toy Story ride. We figured that the ride had to be pretty cool if the FastPass sold out by mid-evening. It ended up being a digital shooting gallery. Not disappointing, but it definitely didn't feel worth the 90 minute wait.

DS3 freaked out in Muppet Vision 3D, but was completely cool for Star Tours. Go figure.

Continued on my Trip Report blog.

(Mods, if that is against the rules, politely let me know - it's quite tedious copy and pasting the whole post (especially if I have to make edits). Also, I try to update while at the parks using my Blackberry, but this site isn't Blackberry friendly while my Wordpress is).

 

[themousetrap]

Since we purposely slept late, we used the divide-and-conquer for most of Epcot. I wanted to do Soarin’ among other things while DW and DS3 wanted to go straight to the Epcot Character Spot.

Soarin’ was a pretty awesome ride. While we were in the queue, there were five massive screens that featured interactive games with the audience. It sure made that 60 minutes feel like 30. There was this one game where the crowd had to lean to the left or to the right to guide a bird through an obstacle course against the other four screens. Of course, our group came in last. But, the funny part was there was this one kid, who had to be between 8 and 10 who was completely upset that “he” lost. He began screaming “But, dad! They’re adults and they don’t their left from their right!” and “If they were doing it right, we wouldn’t have lost!!”

Easy there, kid. The old guy who could easily pass as Popeye is turning red in the face.

Continued on my Trip Report blog.

 

[The Master]

Lookin good. I do like POFQ.