OMG!!! I CAUGHT A DUCK!! An August Trip Report

[Victoriasmom98]

Hi Everyone!!! We're back from yet another AMAZING TRIP!! We spent August 18 through the 28th at Port Orleans Riverside. This was our second trip there and this trip definite confirms that we LOVE this resort!! It's officially our favorite!! Who are we, you ask----well maybe you didn't and maybe you've read some of my ramblings before, as I tend to write ptr's and tr's every single time we go. Hey, I like sharing. What can I say....

So, this is Victoria..... She is my 15 year old daughter. She is my life, my love, my reason for being!! She is now a sophomore in high school and she is my techie geek! She loves anything to do with computers, but it's more the social side of it. You know, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, You Tube and just plain texting. Ok, well the texting part is on her phone, but you know the type. She does pretty well in school so I don't limit her internet time much. Oh, if there was a problem I would, but so far so good. She isn't the most healthiest person on Earth and if you wanted to read more of her trials you can check those out in my other reports. Just know she is being treated for her various ills and is doing just fine at the moment. She's bright and beautiful and I would fight until my last breath for her...



Then there's Peter, my wonderful darling husband of 3 years (September 18th). He is truly a blessing in both Victoria and my life. He works hard and when he's not working he's working on old cars and trucks. He always has a lot of projects going on all at once. He's pretty much a homebody and had never really had a vacation until our honeymoon. His parents owned a dairy farm, so that was his life until he was out of school. Our favorite thing to do together is to go for long drives in our state and just look at the scenery! This is not a great picture of him, but you know, he doesn't usually smile in pictures unless I catch him in the act of laughing or something. Strange.


Then there's me.....Ann.....46 years young and still going strong! I work full time for the State of Maine as a Child Support Enforcement Agent and have been doing this now for about 8 years (I think). I could check and be accurate, but it's really not that important, is it? What IS important is that I haven't had a raise in 5 years (thank you, again, state government) and it is making Disney budgeting a little tricky. Rumor has it that we will be getting raises in the near future, but I'll believe it when it is deposited in my account, thank you very much! My spare time is, of course, spent planning the next trip to Disney!! Oh, I also scrapbook, watch some tv, read, etc.....you know, the usual type of things. I am an insulin-dependent diabetic, so sometimes I will ramble about that, but it shouldn't be that much. I do enjoy life and try to live it to the fullest!


Post Links

Meet the Family http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49527768&postcount=11

Getting There http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49553384&postcount=15

A First Day Tradition http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49554193&postcount=17

Animal Kingdom Day http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49556394&postcount=20

A New Day Dawning http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49654426&postcount=28

Epcot Day cont'd http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=49723392&postcount=34

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Following along!

WOW!!! A follower already??!! Too Cool!! I haven't even posted the link anywhere yet.....you are good to have found it. I thought it was buried pretty good!! Anyways, welcome. I now know someone is out there!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

DANGIT! I wanted to be first!!!!!!!!!

 

[solana131]

I'm here! Fun fun fun...can't wait

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about the trip!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm here! I can't wait to read all about your awesome trip!

 

[Tinker326]

I'm here and can't wait to read all about your awesome trip!!!!

 

[JDailey]

Hello I am here!!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I am here and hoping you had a great trip. Can't wait to read about it.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Hello all my fine feathered friends! What?! You are not all feathered? Hmmmm but that’s the theme of the trip report! Oh well, I guess it will be ok. I’m so excited to see so many of my buddies already here! Let me just start off by saying this trip was soooooooooo much better than last year’s. First of all, we were back at our “home” resort --- Port Orleans Riverside. I don’t know what it is about this particular resort – maybe it’s because it’s the first resort we stayed at as a family, maybe it’s the lush surroundings, maybe I really have no clue, but it’s home. Secondly, I have a much easier child to deal with this time around (the threatening must have worked!) No, really….she’s in therapy, on her meds and is overall a lot happier with herself and others. She was truly a joy to be around. And thirdly (is that even a word??) there were no Tropical Storms to deal with. Yay!!! Now let’s fly into this trip report, shall we?!

Our flight was out of Portland at 6am on our beloved Southwest. Nothing unusual about that one. Based on our last couple of experiences I figured if we left the house at 4am and were at the airport at 5am there would be plenty of time to sit down, go to the bathroom etc, before the flight. After all, I had paid extra for the early bird boarding, so we were gonna be just fine. (Note to self: make sure to get the the airport 1 ½ HOURS BEFORE THE FLIGHT LEAVES!!!) Yes, security was busy and it took us a while to get through that and then to our gate. You guessed it, by the time we were at the gate everyone had boarded and we were among the last to get there. This also meant that there were not three seats together! Grrrr!!! Victoria went to the back of the plane and Peter and I were split up someone in the middle. Another note to self: you cannot text each other in the plane. Whoops….so I spent the 1 ½ hours it took to get to Baltimore wondering how Victoria was doing. I still worry about her so much and I know she’s 15 and has done this a number of times, but still. She’s my baby! Once we landed in Baltimore we were able to get up, move around and gets seats near the front all together! Now THAT was pretty neat!







Isn’t an empty plane cool? I thought so! We weren’t allowed to get off the plane, but it was nice to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom. Darn, those things are small!! I really don’t like airplane bathrooms, but what are you going to do, right? They started boarding about ½ hour after landing so it was going to be soon we were in the sky to Disney!

The flight was pretty uneventful and soon we were landing at MCO!!!! OMG!! OMG!!! WE’RE HERE!!! WE’RE HERE!!!! Since we had Magical Express Service we just had to grab the carry-ons and go. We were in row 2 so we booked it off the plane and onto the fake monorail to the terminal!



They look so happy, happy, happy, don’t they?



Someone hold me back, because I just want to run, I was so happy! But, since I did not want to embarrass my family (Stop laughing --- I do have some restraint!!) I proceeded to walk fast to the Magical Express boarding area. Look at that – our bus was there waiting for us and there was no one else in line so we were the first ones. You know what that means, right?! First seat so I can take a picture of that beautiful, beautiful sign. You all know which one I’m talking about don’t you?



.

Yes folks, there it is. Ah, if a person could be in love with a sign, that would be me. All the drama of the past year all melts away when that sign comes into view. Bless you, sign. The ride to Riverside didn’t seem long at all and soon I was at the front desk checking in. I had done online check in, so I went into the “short line” and boy was it sweet. Only one family in front of us. Were we going to be pixie dusted and get our requests? Were we going to have a fridge for my meds? Was our order from Garden Grocer going to be waiting for us? Should I make you wait to find out these and other important answers?....

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Whoohooo! Fantastic start! I can FEEL your excitement and happiness, and I'm so glad Ann. It's a bummer you couldn't sit together on the first leg of the trip, but cool that you could move on the 2nd leg. I think staying on the plane and not having to get off and find another plane to board sounds like the best way to go if you have to have a connection!

Ah, my sign! Yes, it just melts away everything... *sigh*

 

[solana131]

Yeah, what is it about those 6am flights out of PWM?? Always a HUGE security line! Well, glad you made it, even if you had to sit separately...at least you didn't have to wait for another flight!

Yay for front row ME seats! That happened to us our first trip, but not the last two.

I'm so glad you had a better time with Victoria....happy kids make all the difference

 

[Tinker326]

Yhea... vacation has started... we made it to the plane and to the airport and on ME! Woo!!!!

I know how you feel about the airplane, we bought tickets on United to Arizona last year and had seats assigned to us- and the airline changed them & moved my daughter off by herself. I was like, REALLY?!?! And they wouldn't change it- so on the plane we asked someone to move seats with us and they said NO... (old man!) I was so mad and my daughter was so nervous.... left a sour taste in my mouth!!!

Can't wait for more of the TR!!!! MORE. MORE. MORE!! (You don't need to work do you?)

 

[Victoriasmom98]

So here I am at the check-in counter hoping upon hope that Ive received the Pixie Dust Ive requested from all the Fairies....The CM was explaining all kinds of things and Im not hearing any of it! All I want to know is what building and room number I have. Darnet, just tell me already!! I had sent a fax a week prior as was suggested on the POR thread and it read as follows:

Hello from Maine!

I would just like re-confirm our reservation and see if you could possibly accommodate our room requests. Our Reservation number is 3XXXXX. (under Peter Melancon) We are booked for August 18 through the 28th. There are 3 of us, my husband Peter, myself, Ann, and our Disney Daughter Victoria who is 15 years old. We would really appreciate if we can get a room in Building #14, (we have paid for preferred) Alligator Bayou, ground floor as close as possible to Riverside Mill and the bus stop as I have arthritis in my knee and Victoria has spinal cord issues.

Requests:
v Building 14, Alligator Bayou
v Ground floor
v Close as possible to Riverside Mill

Possibly room 1401 to 1408 or so?? If you have any questions you can reach me by email at victoriasmom98@yahoo.com. My home phone is X. My cell is X. Our home address is X.

The following is just a background about us&. Optional reading if you have the time&.
Victoria and I have been the 2 peas in a pod since I divorced her father when she was 4. It's been her and I against the world since then. She's not as much as a Disney fanatic as I am but I'll get her there!!! hee, hee. She's had her share of trials so far in her 15 years so I tend to spoil her and try to "make up for it". She was born with infant torticollis which basically means her head and neck muscles didn't develop as they should have while I was pregnant. She wore a head cast for 6 months to shape her head properly and had physical therapy for the first 2 years of her life. When she was 5, we discovered she had a tethered spinal cord which required surgery to fix. Her tethered spinal cord made potty training extremely difficult (as she didn't feel when she had to go) and it has caused recurring UTI's which have continued to this day. She does see a Pediatric Nephrologist in Portland, Maine so we are working on it. After her surgery she had an additional 2 years of physical therapy. She's doing great, though, even though she will never be great at team sports or any activity that requires lots of balance. She recently has been diagnosed with PCOS, so this past year has been challenging to say the very least. She will be dealing with this for the rest of her life. All of her trials have expressed themselves with severe depression and anxiety which she is now being treated for. On top of all that, as she is getting older, she worries about her Mama, as Im a cancer survivor and insulin-dependent diabetic (who broke her toe this past January courtesy of our wonderful Yellow Lab, Cutie). We are quite the pair, huh? Peter, my new husband, has been a God-send! Hes the rock to both of us!

Thank you for your time and consideration. We are excited to be seeing you all soon! Oh and can I also have a working fridge from my insulin and Victoza medications? Thank you.

I wanted to really stress how important this vacation was to me and how badly I could really use the Pixie Dust. So, did it work? Anyone? Is she ever going to tell me our room number? Cmon lady, just tell me!


ROOM 1408!!!! Ground floor! Halfway between the Riverside Mill and the bus depot! YES!!! LALALALALALALA!!!! OMG YES!!! And.....are you ready.....ITS A CORNER ROOM!!! LALALALALALALA!!!!! I WAS SO EXCITED (like you guys couldnt tell!) We got into the room and I just plopped on the bed --- Im Home! I went ahead and put my window clings up and proceeded to empty the suitcases. Yay!!! I was ready to start this vacation lets go!!! Once I was done getting everything organized this is what I see:



Are you guys kidding me?? If Peter wanted to nap and Victoria wanted to play on the internet, we could have saved $4,000 and stayed right home! I was as antsy as if I had little critters in my pants! Really? I texted one of my friends back home as I was getting pretty ticked off. She volunteered to come with me next time! LOL! We were in Disney, oh dear family, get off your butts and lets go!! After about an hour of my glaring at them with dramatic sighs thrown in for good measure, they decided to get up and decided to go to the Riverside Mill for lunch. I think it was about 1pm by then. It took a whopping 2 minutes to walk to the Mill. Yeah location baby! Im pretty sure Victoria got the make your own pasta and Peter & I got pizzas. Yum!





And, ooh lookie....my first cupcake of the trip...



Finally, the family was ready to start this vacation!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Wow! Even down to the room number you suggested! That is fantastic. I share you annoyance...when we're at Disney, we don't sit around...unless we're at the pool!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Now it’s off for the arrival day tradition: Downtown Disney!!! I love that area, but I guess they are in the process of transforming it into Disney Springs. This is what I’ve read online: “The story of Disney Springs begins at our new Town Center, which is oriented around a series of bubbling natural springs that first attracted settlers to the area. From there, the town grew to encompass three additional neighborhoods: The Landing, Marketplace and West Side – each with its own distinct charm and atmosphere.” So I’m not exactly sure what it’s going to be like or when it will be finished --- all I know is that I love it now. We weren’t able to take the boat as it was raining when we were headed out, so we settled on the bus (duh, Ann, only choice other than the boat!) We didn’t do a whole lot of shopping as the family was hot and tired from getting up at 3am. Again, THERE IS NO RESTING AT DISNEY, so I don’t know what they were thinking! After browsing a few shops and buying some pins (gotta have me some pins!) we headed over to Planet Hollywood to see if we could get in a bit earlier than our ressie. Yep, not a problem. This time we were seated upstairs which was different. We’ve never sat up there before. I believe both Victoria and I had the steak and Peter went with chicken. Our server was nice and all in all it was great.








This is a picture I take of Victoria every year. I’ll have to find her first year to Disney picture and show you….if only I could go home now and get it. Rats!

The boat was running by the time we wanted to leave although you could see another round of storms were making their way into the area. Oh, what a nice comforting ride this is. It’s one of my favorite perks of staying at Riverside! I just love the smell and the breeze blowing!








Can you tell Victoria likes it, too??

The evening consisted of tv and listening to the storms……ahhhh Florida!

 

[Tinker326]

Yhea for getting your room request down to the very room! That is a magical way to start your vacation for sure!!

I am like you too- NO RESTING AT DISNEY!!!!! Let's go people!!! Thankfully my kids are not yet to teenybopper stage so I only have one overgrown male child (husband) to deal with in that regards!

Looks like a good first day!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

DANGIT! I wanted to be first!!!!!!!!!

Geez Karen……just wasn’t gonna happen this time around, huh? Maybe I should always tell you right before I’m about to hit POST. Yep, I’ll try to remember to do that from now on.

I'm here! Fun fun fun...can't wait

Yay Suzi is here!!! I’ll have to go catch up on your TR. I’m just trying to get updates in while I am relatively not busy at work.

I'm here! Can't wait to hear all about the trip!

I’m sure by now you’ve seen me lurking over in your TR, Lisa! I just love your family, but Lacey isn’t in there yet. Hopefully soon! And did the stuffed Jesus make the trip?

I'm here! I can't wait to read all about your awesome trip!

Hi Krysten!! Welcome.

I'm here and can't wait to read all about your awesome trip!!!!

Ooooooh baby, Nicole is here, too!!!! I’ve got to catch up on your ptr!!!

Hello I am here!!

Well look who decided to pay a visit!!!

I am here and hoping you had a great trip. Can't wait to read about it.

You just can’t wait to see the picture of the 2 of us with Cinderella. Talk about upstaging a princess, Shannon!

Whoohooo! Fantastic start! I can FEEL your excitement and happiness, and I'm so glad Ann. It's a bummer you couldn't sit together on the first leg of the trip, but cool that you could move on the 2nd leg. I think staying on the plane and not having to get off and find another plane to board sounds like the best way to go if you have to have a connection!

Ah, my sign! Yes, it just melts away everything... *sigh*

I thought it was MY sign, Karen??!

Yeah, what is it about those 6am flights out of PWM?? Always a HUGE security line! Well, glad you made it, even if you had to sit separately...at least you didn't have to wait for another flight!

Yay for front row ME seats! That happened to us our first trip, but not the last two.

I'm so glad you had a better time with Victoria....happy kids make all the difference

Yeah, me and flights don’t seem to be getting along lately. Wait until you read about what happened on the way back home…..(queue the scary music here!!)

Yhea... vacation has started... we made it to the plane and to the airport and on ME! Woo!!!!

I know how you feel about the airplane, we bought tickets on United to Arizona last year and had seats assigned to us- and the airline changed them & moved my daughter off by herself. I was like, REALLY?!?! And they wouldn't change it- so on the plane we asked someone to move seats with us and they said NO... (old man!) I was so mad and my daughter was so nervous.... left a sour taste in my mouth!!!

Can't wait for more of the TR!!!! MORE. MORE. MORE!! (You don't need to work do you?)

Nah, I have no work to do (yeah, well I can always FIND something to do, but updates are way more fun if I can discreetly get them typed and posted!!) No, I really didn’t like having Victoria by herself, but it is what it is. Lesson learned, I guess.

Wow! Even down to the room number you suggested! That is fantastic. I share you annoyance...when we're at Disney, we don't sit around...unless we're at the pool!

Yeah, I couldn’t believe it. Maybe my fax worked. Maybe it was just pixie dust, I don’t know and I guess I never will, right? It certainly didn’t hurt!! I was so nervous about where we were going to be placed. This was really important to me.

Yhea for getting your room request down to the very room! That is a magical way to start your vacation for sure!!

I am like you too- NO RESTING AT DISNEY!!!!! Let's go people!!! Thankfully my kids are not yet to teenybopper stage so I only have one overgrown male child (husband) to deal with in that regards!

Looks like a good first day!!

Oh, Nicole, let me tell you that the big overgrown male child is worse than a teenybopper. I just really don’t want to go on vacation with him anymore unless we are at a place where you are expected to fall asleep at the drop of a hat! The two of them knew what Disney was like, knew the walking involved, knew my love for going and going and going, but did anyone practice walking other than me? That would be a big N O!!!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Animal Kingdom Day!!

Of course I was awake before the 6am alarm on Peters phone went off. Heck, I was already in the shower by then. Peter always puts these funky, weird ringtones as his alarm and this one ranked right up there. It went something like get up off dat floor with a very funky groove to it. So annoying, but funny at the same time. This was our one and only day at AK since Im the only one that seems to like it. The other two wouldnt really care if we didnt visit it at all. Bunch of nature-haters I have on my hands! Ok, not really, but still. How can anyone pass this park up? I just dont get it!

We had an 8am ressie for Tusker House, but it was also Extra Magic Hours for AK that day so there really wasnt any advantage to having a ressie there early. I seemed to have done that a lot on this trip where the EMH is in the exact park we were at. Yeah, that just makes it more crowded earlier. I dont recommend it. We were seated pretty quickly after our picture with Donald. Sorry I dont have the picture here, but the Photopass CD hasnt been ordered yet. I hosted a share and everyone has until Sunday to edit. I will order the CD on Monday. Dont worry. Im sure it will be here before I finish the TR. Im not that good! Tusker House is Victorias favorite breakfast and boy did that child eat!











Our first ride of the day is always the safari. Apparently everyone else feels the same. It said it was a 20 minute wait, but really, by the time we walked down the trail to the vehicles, we walked right on. I can never get really good pictures on the safari. My camera doesnt do movement shots very well. Hey, does anyone know of a point and shoot that DOES take really good action shots? I would definitely love your opinions on that. I may have to borrow some photos from the internet to make the safari portion of the scrapbook look halfway decent.




I think this is Karens giraffe, but he didnt stick his tongue out for me!


Oh yes, I can get a good shot of a termite hill!! LOL!!!



And here is my version of the lion:




Yep, stunning photos, I know (NOT!!!) Next we went to Rafikis planet watch. I just love the petting area up there and the animal hospital. So cool! Oh, speaking of Rafiki&.