Moose & Goose- The 5th anniversary is the Dis Trip Anniversary- Baby Update #2 5/1
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Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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So, I had a half day at work on Friday, August 30th... and the husband got out of work 2 hours early... so he was home by 3:30.
First- let me apologize- because the first day is a "travel" day, there are not many pictures in this update.
I drove Moose's car to work that morning so I could start packing it up when I got home and we'd be ready to leave (pretty much) by the time he got home. I had done LOTS of shopping before we left so we'd have plenty of snacks to munch on... during our (expected travel time of)16 hours of a straight through drive. So, since we were leaving in the afternoon, we obviously weren't going to make it down to Florida today.
I packed the cooler full of sodas, a bag of smaller bags of chips, gummy bears, Worther's and Jolly Ranchers. I had my suitcase, backpack and another little overnight bag for the wedding- which was why we were coming back on Friday Sept. 6, all packed in the car. I also had gone to the library and rented some comedy cds and a book on cd to listen to during the ride down there and back.
Moose (the DH) had his "electronics bag" packed- the kindle, Nintendo DS and his Playstation game boy thing.... the chargers for each of those and our phones as well as some books.
I also had to get the dog's travel crate and his "overnight bag" with plenty of food, treats and toys for him for the week.
Of course, in the center console in the front of the car was my TR note book, a pen and on the floor of the passenger side was the directions, confirmation numbers and phone numbers for everything we could possibly need!
When the husband got home at 3:30, he finished packing his dress clothes for the wedding.. we all crammed into the car with all of our stuff and as we pulled out of the drive way I yelled "AAAAAAAnd we're off!" Moose looked at me like I was crazy...
but I just smiled and said "it's a Dis thing...".
He said "I'm thinking this is going to be a theme throughout our trip." Turns out... he was right!
We made it to his parents house around 4:15, dropped the dog off and had a potty break before we shoved off again.
About 10 minutes from our last "official" stop, we noticed several cars from Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky... so I said, "We should play 'license plate bingo' of sorts." So, on the back of the front flap of my TR notebook, I started writing down all the state's license plates we saw. Looking back now, I can't believe how many states we found... considering it took us 2 hours to get to Louisville.
In Indiana alone, we found: Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, QUEBEC, Maine, Wisconsin and Utah!
I really couldn't believe we marked THAT many states... and QUEBEC off of our list! Craziness!
License plates in Kentucky? Texas, Virginia, Missouri, West Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Mississippi, Minnesota and South Carolina. Not too shabby!
The next state:
Sorry- I know, it's blurry-- Tennessee. We didn't see ANY new states in Tennessee....
After our first 3 and a half hours (ish), of driving, we stopped around 7:45 in White House, Tennessee at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We thought it was a good time to stop since it was nearly 8 and we thought we would be missing the dinner rush. Boy were we wrong!
Brooke was our waitress and she was very nice. We told her since it was nearly 8 that we hadn't expected it to be so full. She looked at both of us and said "Ya'll aren't from around here are ya? It's only 6:45!"
Apparently we lost an hour some where in Tennessee.... it was like the Twilight Zone... we hadn't gone any further west... if anything we'd gone further east... but somehow we still lost an hour! What the heck?!
We told her we were from Indianapolis and were on our way to Florida, to go to Disney World for our 5th wedding anniversary. She congratulated us and took our order.
Moose had the Chicken & Noodles and I had the catfish dinner. The hush puppies with my meal were some of the best I've ever had. We decided since "we were on vacation and because it was our anniversary celebration" (this ALSO became a theme on our trip....) to order dessert we had the chocolate coke cake with ice cream and it was very chocolatey and moist.
Because we were going through the "mountains" and at night... Moose decided he would drive... because I'm not good with "mountains". It was kind of scary... we were on our breaks alot. I was just thankful it was JUST dark.. and not raining too. The semis were not helping me either, there was one that kept going over onto the rumble strip... I don't know if he was tired or texting or what, but it was scaring me!
While on our way... what felt like straight down, there was a billboard on the side of a hill that said "prepare to meet thy maker". Yeah- thanks for that... that makes me feel safer- going through the mountains, with THAT HUGE billboard... NOT!
Because it was so dark when we passed the Georgia State line, I didn't get a picture until the way back... but I can't seem to find it currently.
We drove another 3 and a half hours after our dinner stop, in Rome, Georgia. It was about 12:30 by the time we stopped.... we double checked the time when we checked in- yes it WAS 12:30.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express... a crazy $115/night for a King sized suite... which was all they said they had left!
The next morning we got up at 7:15... we showered, got dressed and went down stairs for their "free continental breakfast". Honestly their continental breakfast was not terrible... I've been places that it consisted plastic bowls of cereal, milk or juice and a hard boiled egg. But this place had MUCH more than that! I had a cinnamon roll, scrambled eggs (which were pretty good), apple juice and some hash browns.
Moose had two pancakes, an apple, fruit loops & milk and some coffee.
Because we still had another about 8 and a half hour drive today... and we were out of the mountains, I volunteered to drive through Georgia.
Look out pedestrians! Becca is driving!
In Georgia, we saw two new states: New Jersey and California! We thought for sure we'd never see Cali, Alaska or Hawaii.
I drove from Rome, Georgia to the Florida State line (about 5 hours).
Where we stopped at the Florida welcome center. Moose had said that they had "the best orange juice ever" there and we had to stop. So we did... they had free juice samples. Either orange or grapefruit... we both had orange (because grapefruit tastes like earwax... don't ask...). It was good... but I don't think it was "the best ever".
He's SO happy to be here! Right?!
My Welcome to Florida! I'm happy to be out of the car!
We did another pit stop before we got back in the car... and Moose took the wheel the last 3 hours... OMG... THIS WAS THE LONGEST PART OF THE TRIP!
Seriously... I was hungry, tired, had a headache and was DONE with being in the car! Which is my fault really, because after we crossed the state line, he asked me if I wanted to stop for a snack or something and I told him we'd just get something when we got to the resort... because silly me, I thought there was maybe an hour left... when it was really about 3! Moose had done the directions to take us "the back way" to Disney, instead of taking the toll roads, so it took longer with all of the lights and stopping. I was aggravated because he told be after the welcome center it wasn't far... but it felt like as long as the rest of the trip combined.
License plates in Florida? Louisiana, Rhode Island, Arkansas and Maryland. Didn't expect to see Rhode Island either... but we did!
FINALLY WE SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL THING!
You know what that means! VACATION HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!
So where were we staying?
Next, was check in.... where we would find out for sure if we would be testing out the new Magic Bands or not.
Because I am out of picture space, I'm going to end my first chapter here. Thanks for reading along! See ya real soon!
First- let me apologize- because the first day is a "travel" day, there are not many pictures in this update.
I drove Moose's car to work that morning so I could start packing it up when I got home and we'd be ready to leave (pretty much) by the time he got home. I had done LOTS of shopping before we left so we'd have plenty of snacks to munch on... during our (expected travel time of)16 hours of a straight through drive. So, since we were leaving in the afternoon, we obviously weren't going to make it down to Florida today.
I packed the cooler full of sodas, a bag of smaller bags of chips, gummy bears, Worther's and Jolly Ranchers. I had my suitcase, backpack and another little overnight bag for the wedding- which was why we were coming back on Friday Sept. 6, all packed in the car. I also had gone to the library and rented some comedy cds and a book on cd to listen to during the ride down there and back.
Moose (the DH) had his "electronics bag" packed- the kindle, Nintendo DS and his Playstation game boy thing.... the chargers for each of those and our phones as well as some books.
I also had to get the dog's travel crate and his "overnight bag" with plenty of food, treats and toys for him for the week.
Of course, in the center console in the front of the car was my TR note book, a pen and on the floor of the passenger side was the directions, confirmation numbers and phone numbers for everything we could possibly need!
When the husband got home at 3:30, he finished packing his dress clothes for the wedding.. we all crammed into the car with all of our stuff and as we pulled out of the drive way I yelled "AAAAAAAnd we're off!" Moose looked at me like I was crazy...
but I just smiled and said "it's a Dis thing...".He said "I'm thinking this is going to be a theme throughout our trip." Turns out... he was right!
We made it to his parents house around 4:15, dropped the dog off and had a potty break before we shoved off again.
About 10 minutes from our last "official" stop, we noticed several cars from Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky... so I said, "We should play 'license plate bingo' of sorts." So, on the back of the front flap of my TR notebook, I started writing down all the state's license plates we saw. Looking back now, I can't believe how many states we found... considering it took us 2 hours to get to Louisville.
In Indiana alone, we found: Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Tennessee, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, QUEBEC, Maine, Wisconsin and Utah!
I really couldn't believe we marked THAT many states... and QUEBEC off of our list! Craziness!
License plates in Kentucky? Texas, Virginia, Missouri, West Virginia, Alabama, Washington, Mississippi, Minnesota and South Carolina. Not too shabby!
The next state:
Sorry- I know, it's blurry-- Tennessee. We didn't see ANY new states in Tennessee....
After our first 3 and a half hours (ish), of driving, we stopped around 7:45 in White House, Tennessee at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We thought it was a good time to stop since it was nearly 8 and we thought we would be missing the dinner rush. Boy were we wrong!
Brooke was our waitress and she was very nice. We told her since it was nearly 8 that we hadn't expected it to be so full. She looked at both of us and said "Ya'll aren't from around here are ya? It's only 6:45!"
Apparently we lost an hour some where in Tennessee.... it was like the Twilight Zone... we hadn't gone any further west... if anything we'd gone further east... but somehow we still lost an hour! What the heck?!
We told her we were from Indianapolis and were on our way to Florida, to go to Disney World for our 5th wedding anniversary. She congratulated us and took our order.
Moose had the Chicken & Noodles and I had the catfish dinner. The hush puppies with my meal were some of the best I've ever had. We decided since "we were on vacation and because it was our anniversary celebration" (this ALSO became a theme on our trip....) to order dessert we had the chocolate coke cake with ice cream and it was very chocolatey and moist.
Because we were going through the "mountains" and at night... Moose decided he would drive... because I'm not good with "mountains". It was kind of scary... we were on our breaks alot. I was just thankful it was JUST dark.. and not raining too. The semis were not helping me either, there was one that kept going over onto the rumble strip... I don't know if he was tired or texting or what, but it was scaring me!
While on our way... what felt like straight down, there was a billboard on the side of a hill that said "prepare to meet thy maker". Yeah- thanks for that... that makes me feel safer- going through the mountains, with THAT HUGE billboard... NOT!
Because it was so dark when we passed the Georgia State line, I didn't get a picture until the way back... but I can't seem to find it currently.
We drove another 3 and a half hours after our dinner stop, in Rome, Georgia. It was about 12:30 by the time we stopped.... we double checked the time when we checked in- yes it WAS 12:30.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express... a crazy $115/night for a King sized suite... which was all they said they had left!
The next morning we got up at 7:15... we showered, got dressed and went down stairs for their "free continental breakfast". Honestly their continental breakfast was not terrible... I've been places that it consisted plastic bowls of cereal, milk or juice and a hard boiled egg. But this place had MUCH more than that! I had a cinnamon roll, scrambled eggs (which were pretty good), apple juice and some hash browns.
Moose had two pancakes, an apple, fruit loops & milk and some coffee.
Because we still had another about 8 and a half hour drive today... and we were out of the mountains, I volunteered to drive through Georgia.
Look out pedestrians! Becca is driving!
In Georgia, we saw two new states: New Jersey and California! We thought for sure we'd never see Cali, Alaska or Hawaii.
I drove from Rome, Georgia to the Florida State line (about 5 hours).
Where we stopped at the Florida welcome center. Moose had said that they had "the best orange juice ever" there and we had to stop. So we did... they had free juice samples. Either orange or grapefruit... we both had orange (because grapefruit tastes like earwax... don't ask...). It was good... but I don't think it was "the best ever".
He's SO happy to be here! Right?!
My Welcome to Florida! I'm happy to be out of the car!
We did another pit stop before we got back in the car... and Moose took the wheel the last 3 hours... OMG... THIS WAS THE LONGEST PART OF THE TRIP!
Seriously... I was hungry, tired, had a headache and was DONE with being in the car! Which is my fault really, because after we crossed the state line, he asked me if I wanted to stop for a snack or something and I told him we'd just get something when we got to the resort... because silly me, I thought there was maybe an hour left... when it was really about 3! Moose had done the directions to take us "the back way" to Disney, instead of taking the toll roads, so it took longer with all of the lights and stopping. I was aggravated because he told be after the welcome center it wasn't far... but it felt like as long as the rest of the trip combined.
License plates in Florida? Louisiana, Rhode Island, Arkansas and Maryland. Didn't expect to see Rhode Island either... but we did!
FINALLY WE SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL THING!
You know what that means! VACATION HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!
So where were we staying?
Next, was check in.... where we would find out for sure if we would be testing out the new Magic Bands or not.
Because I am out of picture space, I'm going to end my first chapter here. Thanks for reading along! See ya real soon!
We might get overwhelmed. 
Backstage_Gal
<font color=darkorchid>Let me rephrase the dog ste
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2005
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Great new chapter! Love the "Aaannnddd we're off", LOL. Wonder where you heard that one 
Riverside is where I used to work, can't wait to see how you liked it.
Riverside is where I used to work, can't wait to see how you liked it.
jedijill
Chiefs fan living in Bronco country
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I missed the PTR but got here right in time for the TR to start! OMG, 16 hours in the car? I thought the 9 hour drive to KC from Denver was bad! Love POR...my second favorite mod after POFQ.
Happy Anniversary!
Jill in CO
Happy Anniversary!
Jill in CO
smidgy
dimples
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- 8,146
here's the problem with the time thing . you Indiana folk are weird. you live in the midwest, but adhere to eastern time.
then when you get about into Elizabethtown, KY, you go back to "Normal" time (aka CST) and don't go back into EST untilGeaorgia? or chatanooga? I forget. (there might even be a spot where you are in tenn. then 24 dips into GA for a wee bit, then you're in tenn again. but maybe you dont' change time zones then. .. see now even I'M confused!!!! )
can you imagine the people living in Indiana and working in Chicago? Oh! and then didn't you guys decide to ignore the Daylight Savings time? that poor businessman from Porter, Indiana is still driving back and forth on the Skyway, cause he has NO idea what time it is and if he's going home or to work!
I finally gave up and trying to change the time on my watch for the trip.. I just know that I'm an hour off. (but I have to stop and think which way.. am I going back in time, or ahead?) one time I did change it , I managed to also accidentally set my alarm for 6:15. couldn't figure out how to turn it off. weekend nights at the restaurant.. standing at a table taking an order. alram goes off. other waitress from across the room: "must be 6:15!"
one year my watch was about 7 minutesfast; don't know why. but I was also an hour off cause my watch was still on Chicago time.. people would come up to me and ask me the time. I would look at my watch and just shrug.
.
so you didn'[t mention ATlanta!! our nemisis! did you go through? take the bypass?
then when you get about into Elizabethtown, KY, you go back to "Normal" time (aka CST) and don't go back into EST untilGeaorgia? or chatanooga? I forget. (there might even be a spot where you are in tenn. then 24 dips into GA for a wee bit, then you're in tenn again. but maybe you dont' change time zones then. .. see now even I'M confused!!!! )
can you imagine the people living in Indiana and working in Chicago? Oh! and then didn't you guys decide to ignore the Daylight Savings time? that poor businessman from Porter, Indiana is still driving back and forth on the Skyway, cause he has NO idea what time it is and if he's going home or to work!
I finally gave up and trying to change the time on my watch for the trip.. I just know that I'm an hour off. (but I have to stop and think which way.. am I going back in time, or ahead?) one time I did change it , I managed to also accidentally set my alarm for 6:15. couldn't figure out how to turn it off. weekend nights at the restaurant.. standing at a table taking an order. alram goes off. other waitress from across the room: "must be 6:15!"
one year my watch was about 7 minutesfast; don't know why. but I was also an hour off cause my watch was still on Chicago time.. people would come up to me and ask me the time. I would look at my watch and just shrug.
.so you didn'[t mention ATlanta!! our nemisis! did you go through? take the bypass?
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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Smidgy, We DID go through Atlanta.... we went thru around 10 on Saturday morning... we thought this will be GREAT timing.... WRONG!
We didn't realize there was a Georgia v. Alabama game going on Saturday morning, so traffic was backed up because of that. I was driving and we made it in and out of town fairly easily, honestly. Their signs need to be better marked....
But, my husband has pretty bad road rage... so that's a main reason I wanted to drive through ATL. I did well, no cussing or hand signals to other drivers (except for a wave when someone let me in)... was only really nervous about 1 merge.
The way back was fairly easy too... considering we went through around 4:15 p.m. on a Friday.... the worst part was about 15 minutes north of Atlanta proper. The drivers couldn't find their turn signals... but checked to make sure their breaks worked (for no other reason) every 30 seconds. I swear the people in Georgia have no idea how to ACTUALLY drive.
We were sent a press release at work two weeks ago from Allstate about the best & worst states to drive in... the 2 worst states to drive in? North Carolina & Georgia... how did they figure that? Most car accident insurance claims per capita. Yeah... I've driven in both states... not surprised at all.
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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Thank you so much! I appreciate it! (actually, as you will see... we didn't take 16 hours to get home, even though mapquest said 15 1/2 hours and google maps said 16 1/2 hours, I figured about 16 hours.... he figured about 14 hours.... but I'll wait to tell you how long it actually took us on Friday to drive straight through from Orlando to Columbus, Indiana (where we stopped for the wedding the next day).
pkondz
Oh dear, I've got the silly thing in reverse
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- 33,647
I hear ya. I'm doing the exact same thing!
I do that when I'm travelling by myself. If Ruby's with me, then I don't because we'll talk instead.... and then she sleeps through most of it while I drive in silence.
Good way to exercise your imagination, I tell ya!
Holy Smoke! Was he going to fit Disney in there somewhen too?
Okay, I'm following too many TRs... is the pup going with you? Or were you dropping him off?
Of course I found out a couple of paragraphs later, but for a bit there... well, colour me confused.
Had to re-read that.... "What? The husband got home and packed his dress for the wedding?.... okay. I'm not judging."
I yelled "AAAAAAAnd we're off!" Moose looked at me like I was crazy...
Yup. That's where the pup was going.
I had a good catfish dinner... once. Years ago. I've been trying to have another ever since... and been disapointed every time.
Well, if I'd had 'em... they would've been the best. Not only have I never had them, but I had to Google what they were!
Now I know. Sounds good.
I've had grits, now I've gotta have hush puppies!
2 things.
1. If it's a vacation and it's a celebration... CALORIES DO NOT COUNT!
2. Was that a typo? What's a coke cake?
Nah. Never happen....
:Not good. I always say that it's not your driving that worries me, it's everyone else!
Mom and Dad? What are they doing there?
Of course not. It hasn't happened yet.
Not too shabby. I think the worst I've seen is a package of stale pre-packaged donuts called 'continental breakfast'.
Nice pic!
So... you're saying I should start eating earwax?
Oh, I know that feeling. You get to Florida and you think you're there... and it takes forever to go that last little bit.So next time... are you going to suck it up and pay the tolls?
FINALLY WE SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL THING!
You mean that dark spot on the road?
Hope so. I'd really like to know how they worked out.
Thanks for the Chapter!
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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Look what came in the mail today!Made my day. Thanks!
So happy I could cheer up your day!
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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Great travel chapter Rebecca!
I love the Nebo homage and so will he when he reads it.
I was sad when the chapter ended but that's a good thing....ask Pkondz about his "captive" audience.
There's actually more homage.... to him and a certain frump.
Unfortunately I can never remember which rocking chair it is to get my picture taken in... if we actually get to do the Neboites in Disney, I may have to have Nebo show me for himself, which chair it is!
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
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So, before I go any further, I wanted to add in... again, that we were here to "mark off our Disney bucket lists".
A few weeks before we went, we made "bucket lists" of things- specifically in Disney we wanted to do. The closer we got to the trip and the more things I read about that we could do, the longer my list got. And honestly, even though we were able to check somethings off- my list has grown since we got back from our trip! For instance- I still haven't tried the carrot cake cookie. So much Disney stuff to do- so little time to do it all in! (If you care to read it, I'll post my post-trip Disney bucket list at the end of the report.)
My Disney bucket list? (pre-trip)
1. Stay the night in Cinderella's Castle
2. The Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party
3. Try to do EVERY ride in the Magic Kingdom in 1 day.
4. Stay at AKL with a Savanna view
5. Stay at POR room with the fireworks in the headboard.
6. Go to WDW in December to see the Osborne lights & MVMCP.
7. Do the "Pirate tour"- with Captain Hook
8. Eat mini-corndogs at Casey's.
9. The luau at the Poly
10. Tea time at the Grand Floridian
11. Behind the scenes tour
12. Kiss Mickey's nose
Moose's bucket list?
1. Stay in Cinderellas Castle
2. Go to Disney, just the two of us. (check!)
3. Drink our way around the world (at least one drink in every country in World Showcase).
How many things will we do & check off from our bucket lists? How many things will we ADD to our bucket lists?! Well... you'll just have to read along to find out!
Because I'm sticking to the Rocky & Bulwinkle show theme, I thought I'd add a quote from the show.
"Rocky: Bullwinkle, do you know what an A-Bomb is?
Bullwinkle: Sure, a bomb is what some people call our show.
Rocky: I don't think that's very funny.
Bullwinkle: Neither do they, apparently."
Back to check-in day.... when we last left our fearless heroes, they were walking into the main building at POR, about to check in.
Day 1 continued: We got to POR and walked into the main building to check in. We checked in and DID NOT get the magic bands. Sad. Our travel agent told us that we may get them at check in.. but we did not. Keep this in mind because it comes back to bother us, later in the trip.
Once you go in the front doors, you turn right to check in:
turning to the left, you'll find the gift shop on the far left, then the bar "The River Roost", then a hallway with the table service restaurant "Boatwright's" and the quick service restaurant the "Riverside Mill Food court". We ate both of them, but you'll just have to stick around to read about that.:
If you go straight through the doors in the lobby, you'll have this view:
There's a nice little porch here with some rocking chairs.
From the outside (quiet a ways away- on the bridge) looking at the back of the building... this is outside the quick service restaurant... hence the name, Riverside Mill:
Turing to the left, the back of the main part of the building.
When we checked in, we were assigned our building.... The Acadian! Having never stayed at this resort before, we were not prepared for how spread out it was! We have only ever stayed at Wilderness Lodge where everything is contained in one building. So, Moose did not enjoy POR and all of it's walking on top of the walking we did in the parks each day. We drove around the resort grounds and finally found our building. We parked and when we finally found our room (it was quite an expedition) and lugged everything up to the room, I took pictures.
Our room looked like this:
The headboard on our bed, with Princess Tiana on it:
And, as you can see, someone made themselves at home, while I was checking things out and taking pictures.
The view outside our room... directly out the front door.
Over the railing, you can see one of the quiet pools. There are 5 pools altogether, I think.
To the right are the stairs, taking you down to the pool:
To the right of our door is a walk way to other rooms:
In front of our building was a fountain where Moose said he wanted to take my picture:
I know I had said before we left that I wasn't sure what we would do this evening... I didn't know if we should get more park tickets, or plan for a special dinner show, go to Downtown Disney or just relax. Honestly, when we got there we were hungry because we hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now dinner time. We decided not to go to the parks... and instead decided to walk to the main building to get our refillable mugs and dinner.
If you took the stairs down and then did a U-turn, you could follow the path to the back of the building, to the left a little and then cross a little bridge which would take to the Old Man Island where the main pool is and then across the other bridge to the back of the main building (which is where I took the picture of the back of the building from).
We decided to walk to the main building to eat because we didn't feel like going all the way to downtown Disney.
So, where did we eat?
Well, I'd love to tell you, but I'm out of room for pictures, so dinner- and the evening after- will have to wait until next time.
Thanks for reading!
See ya real soon!
A few weeks before we went, we made "bucket lists" of things- specifically in Disney we wanted to do. The closer we got to the trip and the more things I read about that we could do, the longer my list got. And honestly, even though we were able to check somethings off- my list has grown since we got back from our trip!
For instance- I still haven't tried the carrot cake cookie. So much Disney stuff to do- so little time to do it all in! (If you care to read it, I'll post my post-trip Disney bucket list at the end of the report.)My Disney bucket list? (pre-trip)
1. Stay the night in Cinderella's Castle
2. The Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert party
3. Try to do EVERY ride in the Magic Kingdom in 1 day.
4. Stay at AKL with a Savanna view
5. Stay at POR room with the fireworks in the headboard.
6. Go to WDW in December to see the Osborne lights & MVMCP.
7. Do the "Pirate tour"- with Captain Hook
8. Eat mini-corndogs at Casey's.
9. The luau at the Poly
10. Tea time at the Grand Floridian
11. Behind the scenes tour
12. Kiss Mickey's nose
Moose's bucket list?
1. Stay in Cinderellas Castle
2. Go to Disney, just the two of us. (check!)
3. Drink our way around the world (at least one drink in every country in World Showcase).
How many things will we do & check off from our bucket lists? How many things will we ADD to our bucket lists?! Well... you'll just have to read along to find out!
Because I'm sticking to the Rocky & Bulwinkle show theme, I thought I'd add a quote from the show.
"Rocky: Bullwinkle, do you know what an A-Bomb is?
Bullwinkle: Sure, a bomb is what some people call our show.
Rocky: I don't think that's very funny.
Bullwinkle: Neither do they, apparently."
Back to check-in day.... when we last left our fearless heroes, they were walking into the main building at POR, about to check in.
Day 1 continued: We got to POR and walked into the main building to check in. We checked in and DID NOT get the magic bands. Sad. Our travel agent told us that we may get them at check in.. but we did not. Keep this in mind because it comes back to bother us, later in the trip.
Once you go in the front doors, you turn right to check in:
turning to the left, you'll find the gift shop on the far left, then the bar "The River Roost", then a hallway with the table service restaurant "Boatwright's" and the quick service restaurant the "Riverside Mill Food court". We ate both of them, but you'll just have to stick around to read about that.:
If you go straight through the doors in the lobby, you'll have this view:
There's a nice little porch here with some rocking chairs.
From the outside (quiet a ways away- on the bridge) looking at the back of the building... this is outside the quick service restaurant... hence the name, Riverside Mill:
Turing to the left, the back of the main part of the building.
When we checked in, we were assigned our building.... The Acadian! Having never stayed at this resort before, we were not prepared for how spread out it was! We have only ever stayed at Wilderness Lodge where everything is contained in one building. So, Moose did not enjoy POR and all of it's walking on top of the walking we did in the parks each day. We drove around the resort grounds and finally found our building. We parked and when we finally found our room (it was quite an expedition) and lugged everything up to the room, I took pictures.
Our room looked like this:
The headboard on our bed, with Princess Tiana on it:
And, as you can see, someone made themselves at home, while I was checking things out and taking pictures.
The view outside our room... directly out the front door.
Over the railing, you can see one of the quiet pools. There are 5 pools altogether, I think.
To the right are the stairs, taking you down to the pool:
To the right of our door is a walk way to other rooms:
In front of our building was a fountain where Moose said he wanted to take my picture:
I know I had said before we left that I wasn't sure what we would do this evening... I didn't know if we should get more park tickets, or plan for a special dinner show, go to Downtown Disney or just relax. Honestly, when we got there we were hungry because we hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now dinner time. We decided not to go to the parks... and instead decided to walk to the main building to get our refillable mugs and dinner.
If you took the stairs down and then did a U-turn, you could follow the path to the back of the building, to the left a little and then cross a little bridge which would take to the Old Man Island where the main pool is and then across the other bridge to the back of the main building (which is where I took the picture of the back of the building from).
We decided to walk to the main building to eat because we didn't feel like going all the way to downtown Disney.
So, where did we eat?
Well, I'd love to tell you, but I'm out of room for pictures, so dinner- and the evening after- will have to wait until next time.
Thanks for reading!
See ya real soon!
pkondz
Oh dear, I've got the silly thing in reverse
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
- Messages
- 33,647
Eventually, you did so much research and your bucket list got so big that you decided to not go, since you couldn't possibly do all the things on your list.
No?
And honestly, even though we were able to check somethings off- my list has grown since we got back from our trip!
You realize that's not physically possible? When you take things away, they get smaller... not bigger.
Wait.... I keep losing self-respect, but my ego keeps inflating....
huh.
True story. We were on free DDP so we ate quite well.... a little too well. On our last full day, we were in DHS and I got myself a carrot cake cookie.
I was so full from a week of eating well... very well.... that I couldn't eat it!
Some of yours are the same as mine, some not. I don't include #1 since I just don't think it'll ever happen. But my list includes #2 and 6.
Ah, shoot.
Oh? Sounds very mysterious.
All your pictures are bringing back a ton of memories from when we stayed at POR. We were in Magnolia Terrace, right beside you.
For real fun, try ASMu and stay in Country Fair.... I think that's in another State!
I actually enjoyed the walk to the main building at POR, though.
Oh my gosh! Did you ever find out who?
Yup. 5 quiet plus plus the main one on ol' man island
And what a nice picture it is!
We decided to walk to the main building to eat because we didn't feel like going all the way to downtown Disney.
So, where did we eat?
I'd guess either the food court, or Boatwright's.... so I'll go with the food court.
Such a tease!
Thanks for reading!
See ya real soon!
Thanks for posting!
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2010
- Messages
- 521
Eventually, you did so much research and your bucket list got so big that you decided to not go, since you couldn't possibly do all the things on your list.
No?
You realize that's not physically possible? When you take things away, they get smaller... not bigger.
Wait.... I keep losing self-respect, but my ego keeps inflating....
huh.
True story. We were on free DDP so we ate quite well.... a little too well. On our last full day, we were in DHS and I got myself a carrot cake cookie.
I was so full from a week of eating well... very well.... that I couldn't eat it!
Some of yours are the same as mine, some not. I don't include #1 since I just don't think it'll ever happen. But my list includes #2 and 6.
Ah, shoot.
Oh? Sounds very mysterious.
All your pictures are bringing back a ton of memories from when we stayed at POR. We were in Magnolia Terrace, right beside you.
For real fun, try ASMu and stay in Country Fair.... I think that's in another State!
I actually enjoyed the walk to the main building at POR, though.
Oh my gosh! Did you ever find out who?
Yup. 5 quiet plus plus the main one on ol' man island
And what a nice picture it is!
I'd guess either the food court, or Boatwright's.... so I'll go with the food court.
Such a tease!
Thanks for posting!
Thanks for reading along Kon man! It's always fun to read your "break down".
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2010
- Messages
- 521
Self_resqing_princz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2010
- Messages
- 521
This is going to be a pretty short update... but I doubt Sunday will be short. So... without further adu... a dew... a do?! Where's Nebo when I need him?!
After we got settled in our room, we decided to go to the main building to go back to the QS dining hall, the Riverside Mill. It was PACKED! There were only a handful of empty tables when we got there- we found one right next to the mill.
Our first thing to do was to get our refillable mugs. Moose's had the "rapid refill" label on his... but mine didn't. (And my lid was broken but I didn't realize that until we were half way done with dinner. It still worked but upset me that it was already broken.
I had the BBQ chicken sandwich, which was pretty good. It comes on Texas toast and has coleslaw on it (vinegar based- I add this because I know to some people that's a big deal what the base is... at least to my mom it matters... but she's not on here.) I also had a side of fries and decided on a magic bar for dessert. It had been a while since I had a magic bar... and it had almonds on it, which I didn't remember it having last time. This one also had a LOT of butterscotch chips on it... but that's fine because I LOVE butterscotch!
When we ordered there were about 7 people in front of us waiting for their food and after they had filled all their orders, they had to make fresh fries so it took even longer to get our food.
Moose had the ordered the cowboy burger which is a cheeseburger with bacon and onion rings... however they gave him the wrong burger and he ended up just eating the bacon cheeseburger. He didn't want to wait any longer for his food. He also got a brownie for dessert. He said it was all pretty good-- average, but with the added bonus of being in Disney.
We went to fill up our mugs and the rapid refill machines weren't working. One of the screens was black, one was stuck on "fill complete" and the machines on the other side just said "rapid refill" but didn't seem to do anything. The coke fill stations worked independently of the rapid refill machines... which was good... but it was just kind of a hassle because people kept trying push the rapid refill buttons and then would either just fill it up or walk away-- but nearly all of them had to play with the buttons first- which took longer for everyone to get their drinks. Hiccups already.
We basically inhaled our food because we were so hungry... but sat for a while after and took our time.
We decided to go check out the gift shop before walking back to the room. The gift shop already had their Halloween stuff out! I also saw a little Halloween decoration for the magic bands... but that was all the magic band stuff I saw. I had a list of things that people had asked me to bring back for them: A nurse Minnie pin for my nurse friend, an R2D2 with Mickey ears for my co-worker, a new antenna topper for one of my producers and some postcards to send to friends & family.... and then of course stuff for me!
I walked around and eventually found myself at the pin wall... I immediately found the nurse Minnie pin and grabbed it so I wouldn't forget it later in the trip. I also got a Mickey pen (yes PEN) for myself.
Then we decided to sit on the back porch for a few minutes... in the rocking chairs there. I called my parents to let them know we had made it down there and were safe. Someone is SUPER excited to be sitting in the heat and humidity while I talk on the phone!
Then we made our way back to the room. A quick photo op on the way:
However, we got to the pool and decided... lets stop at the pool side bar! I had the pina colava... it's pina colada with raspberry in it... very good! But the slushy pina colada was SUPER cold so I didn't drink it very fast. Moose had a blue moonshine.
And then he had a Yuenglings (because we can't get that at home and it's one of his favorites- which I didn't get a picture of).... and then a run and coke. He was READY to start vacation.
As you can see there's only 2 pictures... I didn't get a picture of the Yunglings because he drank it so fast I didn't realize he was on drink #3!
The bartender was very nice... but I don't think he intended on us being there for so long because after every drink Moose ordered, he would print us up a new ticket. We chatted for a bit... he told us that the Yuenglings was on tap because they had recently bought a brewery in Orlando and Disney had cut a deal with them to put it on tap. Moose thought this was great because from what I know (which isn't much) A. they are the oldest brewery in the country... and B. they only sell beer as far west as Ohio (for whatever reason). It's one of Moose's favorites.
We ended up sitting at the bar and watching the kids splash in the pool for about an hour and a half. The drinks were nice, we both texted friends and family to tell them we were in Florida and had made it safely and to let them know that IT WAS OFFICIALLY VACATION BABY!
We looked at the times schedule for the parks for the next day and let that dictate where we would go and what we would do. Since the Magic Kingdom opened at 9a.m. and closed at 1 a.m. with magic hours until 3 a.m., we were going to attempt to mark off one of the REALLY tough things off my list! Doing ALL the rides in the Magic Kingdom in 1 day. Unfortunately, the Disney App on my phone said that the Jungle Cruise was under refurbishment... so we were already not going to be able to accomplish my goal.... but we could still attempt to do all the rides that were open in one day!
So, we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday... and if we were going to attempt this, we were going to need our sleep. We thanked the bar tender and Moose decided to charge all of our drinks to the room..... (also a common theme through the trip).
We went back to the room, showered and got into bed. Going from a queen size bed at home that we share with a dachshund (where he likes to sleep so we form a letter H)... to a king size bed with just the two of us, felt like we had half a continent to ourselves! It was awesome!
However- the DH snores... BADLY. And when he snores really bad to the point where it wakes me up and I can't sleep, I usually go sleep in the guest room... but because I couldn't do that here, I was worried about what would happen during our trip. Would I get any sleep at all? We were in bed by 10:30 and Moose was out like a light! I have trouble falling asleep at night and almost always end up watching an hour or more of tv before I fall asleep.
Would I get any sleep tonight? Would I be too tired to make it through my ride list?
Tune in next time to find out!
Thanks for reading along!
See ya real soon!
After we got settled in our room, we decided to go to the main building to go back to the QS dining hall, the Riverside Mill. It was PACKED! There were only a handful of empty tables when we got there- we found one right next to the mill.
Our first thing to do was to get our refillable mugs. Moose's had the "rapid refill" label on his... but mine didn't. (And my lid was broken but I didn't realize that until we were half way done with dinner. It still worked but upset me that it was already broken.
I had the BBQ chicken sandwich, which was pretty good. It comes on Texas toast and has coleslaw on it (vinegar based- I add this because I know to some people that's a big deal what the base is... at least to my mom it matters... but she's not on here.) I also had a side of fries and decided on a magic bar for dessert. It had been a while since I had a magic bar... and it had almonds on it, which I didn't remember it having last time. This one also had a LOT of butterscotch chips on it... but that's fine because I LOVE butterscotch!
When we ordered there were about 7 people in front of us waiting for their food and after they had filled all their orders, they had to make fresh fries so it took even longer to get our food.
Moose had the ordered the cowboy burger which is a cheeseburger with bacon and onion rings... however they gave him the wrong burger and he ended up just eating the bacon cheeseburger. He didn't want to wait any longer for his food. He also got a brownie for dessert. He said it was all pretty good-- average, but with the added bonus of being in Disney.
We went to fill up our mugs and the rapid refill machines weren't working. One of the screens was black, one was stuck on "fill complete" and the machines on the other side just said "rapid refill" but didn't seem to do anything. The coke fill stations worked independently of the rapid refill machines... which was good... but it was just kind of a hassle because people kept trying push the rapid refill buttons and then would either just fill it up or walk away-- but nearly all of them had to play with the buttons first- which took longer for everyone to get their drinks. Hiccups already.
We basically inhaled our food because we were so hungry... but sat for a while after and took our time.
We decided to go check out the gift shop before walking back to the room. The gift shop already had their Halloween stuff out! I also saw a little Halloween decoration for the magic bands... but that was all the magic band stuff I saw. I had a list of things that people had asked me to bring back for them: A nurse Minnie pin for my nurse friend, an R2D2 with Mickey ears for my co-worker, a new antenna topper for one of my producers and some postcards to send to friends & family.... and then of course stuff for me!
I walked around and eventually found myself at the pin wall... I immediately found the nurse Minnie pin and grabbed it so I wouldn't forget it later in the trip. I also got a Mickey pen (yes PEN) for myself.
Then we decided to sit on the back porch for a few minutes... in the rocking chairs there. I called my parents to let them know we had made it down there and were safe. Someone is SUPER excited to be sitting in the heat and humidity while I talk on the phone!
Then we made our way back to the room. A quick photo op on the way:
However, we got to the pool and decided... lets stop at the pool side bar! I had the pina colava... it's pina colada with raspberry in it... very good! But the slushy pina colada was SUPER cold so I didn't drink it very fast. Moose had a blue moonshine.
And then he had a Yuenglings (because we can't get that at home and it's one of his favorites- which I didn't get a picture of).... and then a run and coke. He was READY to start vacation.
As you can see there's only 2 pictures... I didn't get a picture of the Yunglings because he drank it so fast I didn't realize he was on drink #3!
The bartender was very nice... but I don't think he intended on us being there for so long because after every drink Moose ordered, he would print us up a new ticket. We chatted for a bit... he told us that the Yuenglings was on tap because they had recently bought a brewery in Orlando and Disney had cut a deal with them to put it on tap. Moose thought this was great because from what I know (which isn't much) A. they are the oldest brewery in the country... and B. they only sell beer as far west as Ohio (for whatever reason). It's one of Moose's favorites.
We ended up sitting at the bar and watching the kids splash in the pool for about an hour and a half. The drinks were nice, we both texted friends and family to tell them we were in Florida and had made it safely and to let them know that IT WAS OFFICIALLY VACATION BABY!
We looked at the times schedule for the parks for the next day and let that dictate where we would go and what we would do. Since the Magic Kingdom opened at 9a.m. and closed at 1 a.m. with magic hours until 3 a.m., we were going to attempt to mark off one of the REALLY tough things off my list! Doing ALL the rides in the Magic Kingdom in 1 day. Unfortunately, the Disney App on my phone said that the Jungle Cruise was under refurbishment... so we were already not going to be able to accomplish my goal.... but we could still attempt to do all the rides that were open in one day!
So, we decided to go to the Magic Kingdom on Sunday... and if we were going to attempt this, we were going to need our sleep. We thanked the bar tender and Moose decided to charge all of our drinks to the room..... (also a common theme through the trip).
We went back to the room, showered and got into bed. Going from a queen size bed at home that we share with a dachshund (where he likes to sleep so we form a letter H)... to a king size bed with just the two of us, felt like we had half a continent to ourselves! It was awesome!
However- the DH snores... BADLY.
And when he snores really bad to the point where it wakes me up and I can't sleep, I usually go sleep in the guest room... but because I couldn't do that here, I was worried about what would happen during our trip. Would I get any sleep at all? We were in bed by 10:30 and Moose was out like a light! I have trouble falling asleep at night and almost always end up watching an hour or more of tv before I fall asleep.Would I get any sleep tonight? Would I be too tired to make it through my ride list?
Tune in next time to find out!
Thanks for reading along!
See ya real soon!
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