Screw In the Light Bulb-All New x 13 4/25!!

[cindianne320]

Wow! Those rooms are amazing. We stayed at POR with our son back in 2010, but now that we have a Princess of our own- I see another stay in our future!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

My God, the detail in that room is amazing.

I know these are obviously tailored to young girls or at the very least females in general, but... fireworks in the headboard??? Sadly, I think I would probably play with that more than anyone probably should.

 

[RGirl]

The One Where We Get Ready to Go To Disney!​

This update is going to be short on photos, but don't worry I have plenty for the rest of the TR
I know you do!!!

Once we returned from our whirlwind trip to Beantown it was time to get down to serious Disney business. That Wednesday night I finished up an order for Etsy and finished a sewing project for the trip. The next day Maddie and I went to her last swimming lesson and then spent the rest of the day packing. I can’t say enough good things about the giant sized Ziplock bags. We were able to fit 3 or 4 princess dresses and accessories in each one. They kept the glitter at least a little contained, and helped us stay much more organized. Can’t recommend them enough!
I am so glad that you loved the giant zips as much as we do! Just the glitter reduction is a BIG deal!

We took a break for dinner (Red Lobster-Maddie’s choice) and while we were eating we showed Maddie the special video that Katt had gotten for us. It was Cinderella personally inviting Maddie to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique! Maddie was of course 100% thrilled, and quite pleased with herself for being such a good girl that she got invited again. (Maybe Katt would be nice enough to share the link?) After dinner I finished up the packing, and Bryan started his (it’s so much easier for men!)
Oh, that is so cool! How fun for Maddie.

The next morning Maddie colored her last countdown page, and then we decided to treat ourselves to vacation pedicures. Maddie was going to get one sparkle on each of her big toes, but predictably wasn’t able to stop there and needed them on every toe. She also insisted that I get them too so that we could match. After our cute toes dried we grabbed some lunch at Chipotle and then went home to wait for Bryan to pick us up.
All the toes turned out so cute.

He came to get us around 1, and we piled ourselves and all of our bags into the car. We were finally going on vacation!
We got to the airport and got through security quickly (you know what’s not easier for men? Security at the airport. I breeze right through, but it takes Bry forever with the belt, wallet, shoes, watch etc. Much easier to throw your purse in the bin and go). The flight was on time, and easy as could be. Before we knew it we were landing at MCO.
I am really jealous that you are able to throw a purse in the bin and go. I am that woman who has to hold up the entire line with all of my removing the laptop, explaining to my child AGAIN that her blanky DOES have to go through security, etc. etc.

For once we didn’t get lost on our way to DME, and after our ME documents were scanned, they waved us right onto a bus! Unfortunately, once we were on the bus we sat there for 20 minutes or so. It seems that one of the families on the bus was missing one member of their party so the whole bus was waiting for him to get back (he was getting snacks. True story). Maddie was trying her best to hold it together, and only hit us with about 47,651 “are we leaving soon?”s.

In between queries-Pluto was our travel companion. I'm sure he was excited to return to his homeland


Eventually we were on the road though. The bus dropped off at a few resorts that I can’t remember and finally at POR. We were actually the 4th stop, so I’m assuming they weren’t expecting too many POR guests that evening and just put us on the first bus to leave. In fact we were on that bus for so long that the video was over, the cartoons they play after were over, and the TVs went back to the main screen.
That happened to us last time - FOREVER.

Eventually though, we arrived. There was no line at check in and we were quickly given our KTTW cards and room number. I asked, and the CM said we wouldn’t have to change rooms when our package started the next day. It was time to check out this room!
That's great about no room change!

Up Next: We finally Check out the Room!

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[RGirl]

The One With the Royal Room​

We were immediately impressed with POR. Even at night it was easy to see how beautiful the resort is, and the mansion buildings certainly did not disappoint. As we approached our building we saw that the outdoor movie was set up right outside and the centerpiece of our courtyard was a lovely fountain (don’t worry I have about 4356 pictures of it). Having never been to POR before, we didn’t really know how the building was set up, and we ended up making a full circle around the building before we found our room number.

We’d booked a standard view, but quickly found that we’d been given the best darn standard view in the whole place! Oak Manor is an H shape. Most of the standard views are in the back of the H overlooking the parking lot. Our room was in the crook of the H on the right side as you’re looking at the courtyard. It technically overlooked the roof of the north-south line of that H, but if you looked straight ahead or even slightly to the left we had a perfect view of that fountain and the beautiful gardens surrounding it.
That is so great that you got a surprise view! I always think the pictures of POR look so beautiful. Still a little sad that we didn't end up trying it. But loving hearing about/seeing your experience there.

Once inside, Maddie almost burst with the sheer princessness of the room. She ran from detail to detail exclaiming and asking me to take pictures of everything. To say that she loved it would be an understatement. Maddie had planned to do a video tour of the room for all of you, but we never got around to it. She intends to do it next time.
I'm so excited that she was so excited! I just knew it woudl be amazing!

For those of you that aren't aware, the story behind the Royal Guest Rooms is that Princess Tiana has decorated these rooms with some help from her royal friends.

Portraits of the gals-these have recently been changed. Previously they were less formal/silly photos I believe. Hard to get a decent shot without glare

Super bad picture of the Tiana portrait. It was a lenticular portrait with subtle changes depending on where you were standing

Ottoman courtesy of Belle

Faucet from our gal Jasmine

Ariel's contribution

The princes got in on the act as well

Wallpaper border

Lamp above the table

Close up of the comforter

Cindy's coat rack

Magic Carpet on the floor

Letter of welcome on the table-not a souvenir, it's permanent

Over view of the vanity area
Loved all the room details and all the princess stuff. The Aladdin bathroom fixtures are my favorite - I want them in my bathroom!

I have a lot of those too-excited-to-hold-the-camera-straight/still pictures.

After photographing every square inch of the room I put the camera away and we decided to find our way to the food court to grab a snack. I can’t say enough good things about our room location. It was a short, beautiful walk across the bridge to the main building. I’d seen plenty of pictures of POR, but what I never realized is that the arcade/lobby/River Roost lounge/Boatwrights/gift shop/food court is all one building! It’s a massive L shaped building with the lobby in the center, gift shop toward the front, and restaurants on the end by the water wheel.
Dang - your location was just awesome, wasn't it?

Even at 10:30 pm the food court was pretty crowded, but the lines moved fairly quickly. Maddie got grapes and orange juice, I got hummus and pretzel chips, and a Coke. Bry decided he was more hungry than we were so he got a bacon cheese burger and fries. Maddie and I took our snacks back to the room, but Bry ate in the food court so that his burger would be hot. Back in the room, we ate our food in our princess beds while enjoying Stacey and fiberoptic fireworks from our headboard. Trust me when I say that the headboard fireworks did not go unused during our stay. We enjoyed them often.
Oh, love, love, love the headboard! We adored the one at Disneyland Hotel, but I think the ones at POR may be even cooler.

Our flight had landed at 8:30 and by midnight we were getting antsy for our luggage to arrive so that we could get some rest. I called bell services hoping that I could find out if our bags had even gotten to POR yet, because if they hadn’t I was going to ask them to hold them until the morning. The call center transferred my call to POFQ bell services by mistake, and the CM there transferred me to what should have been POR bell services. I’m not sure where my call was answered, but the Spanish speaking CM who answered had no idea what the heck I was asking. I speak some Spanish, but not nearly enough to know how to ask for the ‘suitcase room’ or even front desk. After trying to communicate with her for 5 minutes or so I finally just said “gracias, gracias” and hung up. I hit the front desk button again, and this time was transferred to the right place.

The awesome CM who answered the phone very nicely told me that the bags could take up to 5 hours ONCE YOU CHECK INTO THE RESORT-not once your flight lands like I thought (oops!), but checked to see if our stuff was there yet. He was back on the phone in a jif saying that he had our stuff-all 3 bags and he’d send them up right away.

Unfortunately we had 5 bags. He said it was possible that the last 2 hadn’t been scanned in yet and not to panic yet- he’d send the ones they had, and find the last 2 overnight and we’d have them in the morning. We spent the next 20 minutes wondering what bags were missing and imagining the freak out we’d see if one of the missing contained princess dresses. It seems silly now, but at the time we were really worried that someone wasn’t going to have any underpants.

The bell services CM was there really quickly, and thank goodness, was pulling 5 suitcases behind him. We thanked him profusely and tipped generously (even we know that we had an obscene amount of luggage for 3 people, but one of those bags was nearly empty and earmarked for souvenirs on the way home-love that 2 free bags policy that Southwest has!) Bryan and I toyed with the idea of leaving the unpacking until the next day, but ultimately decided that we’d feel better knowing that it was done before we went to sleep. After getting all of the clothes, toiletries, dresses, magic wands, tiaras, and shoes put away we finally, finally went to bed around 1:30 am.
Ugh - that was quite an anxiety-ridden saga, wasn't it? Thank goodness it all worked out. Really hard to get to sleep so late though the night before you start a WDW vacation. Yikes!

The next morning we were up bright and way too early at 6 am. After various beauty routines were completed we went to the lobby to check out and back in for our package reservation.

Some photos along the way. What an excellent standard view!
Love the resort pics and the gorgeous Maddie pics as well! The Alice dress looks incredible, of course.

The sweet CM that took care of us as we re-checked in noticed the birthday notation on our reservation and took her time making me a super fancy birthday button. She did my name with lots of princess towers, spires, flags, and Mickey ears and covered the whole thing with tape so that it would be protected from any water I’d encounter. (foreshadowing?)
Aww - that is so sweet! Not loving the foreshadowing though....

Bryan and Maddie headed out front to the bus stop, and I made my way to the food court to grab our mugs so that we could get some much needed caffeine in our systems. As I was paying I focused my attention on making sure that I used the new card readers properly, rather than any dollar amount that might have shown up. But as I walked away I happened to glance down at the receipt in my hand. Luckily I did because the receipt showed that I’d just agreed to pay over $50 for the mugs that were supposed to come free with our dining plan. I went straight back to that register, and the CM called over a manager to help her. She said that our mug entitlements hadn’t shown up at first, but she’d gotten it taken care of and refunded the money. Finally I filled those mugs and went out front to meet Bryan and Maddie. We were on our way to our first breakfast and then the Magic Kingdom!
Good thing you are good about checking receipts. I wonder how many extras I purchased without even knowing it! I'm so glad they were able to fix it easily and quickly. Can't wait to hear about the big first breakfast!!!!

Up Next: Our First Character Meal of the Trip!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Katt is so cute with her videos to Maddie. I love them!

Awwww. Love the pedicures!

Hahahaha. I can't explain why, but your "he was getting snacks. True story." Seriously made me crack up. I must be in a mood today.

I absolutely LOVE the pictures of the room. So beautiful!

She's so freakin' cute in the Alice dress!

 

[Queenofallthings]

I don't know what came over me tonight but the picture of your's and Maddie's toes made me well up....i think cause I remember how quickly those little toes grow into big girl toes.....ok, I'm good now!

We may have a problem now....Shan was reading your posts behind me and asked why we have never stayed in a princess room....a little girl can grow up but they're always a little girl inside! Love those rooms!!! Guess who wants to stay there next trip.....ME!

Maddie...cute as ever!!!!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Maddie made a good choice with Red Lobster! Those biscuits alone make me happy.

What a cute idea with the video of Cinderella inviting Maddie. Katt is too sweet again! I love how you guys have it that she has to be invited to BBB. It's such a great way to make her realize it's something special without shoving the expense down her throat.

I can't say I blame Maddie for wanting a sparkle on each toe. Why have a little sparkle when you can have more?!

Really? Holding the ME up for snacks? Didn't he know he was headed to WDW where there are 100000 infinitely better tasting snacks?

Glad to hear the resort and room were a hit! I knew the rooms were Princess themed but I never realized they had a touch from each princess. That's amazing! I'm sure Maddie was in heaven!

Oh gosh Maddie never fails to delight with her cuteness. That first picture of her in the Alice dress is priceless.

Yikes! Glad you caught the error on the receipt! That would've been an expensive one! Can't wait to hear about the trip!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

First off: YAYAYAYAYA

Second off: Every time I scroll past the into pic with you and Maddie I’m all “IT’S SO CUTE” seriously, love it.

So glad that Maddie loved all the videos!! I’ll always do what I can to create magic for anyone!! Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3bCF5AtmNs

Cute toes!! I have to say, I’ve gotten a pedicure once and that will be the only time. The polish chipped off so soon, and being a dancer, it was NOT great to have them rub off all the calloses on my feet, like, I need those, bahaha!!

Aw man, security at airports can be so annoying, I’m one of those people who has my shoes off, the things I need out of my bag out and I’m ready to roll once I can grab a bin, yet I’m always trapped behind someone who’s slow as molasses and has no idea what they’re doing!

Wow! WAIT TO GET SNACKS TIL DISNEY! It’ll taste better! #truestory

Aw man, that’s insane that everything was over! I’ve got to the second and third? Cartoons before but never had them finish! How great that you wouldn’t have to switch rooms!

Ahaha, I always make like, three circles around the building before finding my room!

Awe, I liked the less formal pictures of the princesses! Although, I do like that they updated them with the redesigns!

The room looks absolutely AMAZING!! I will have to definitely splurge for one of those when I’ve got a little princess! Or maybe in the near future…lol…

Oh man, five hours after checking in?! That’s insane!!

Okay…Maddie is seriously the cutest thing in the world, the poses! Ah! So cute!

So excited to read more, it’s looking like a great start off to the trip, glad all the bags showed up when they did too!

Just watched the video! Too perfect and cute! Love it!

 

[redomni]

Sounds like ya'll had a good trip down even if it was late when you got there. I stayed at POR on my honeymoon, they didn't have royal rooms yet, but I think we were in the same area that you were, because that fountain was right outside of our door.

 

[TinksThree]

Playing catch up from the beginning! The Paul McCartney concert trip looks so amazing!!! What a great way to kick-start your trip!!

I love POR!!! I am so excited to go back!! The Royal Rooms are so cool with all of those details!!! I had booked a Royal Room but changed to regular standard afraid my older guys would turn their noses up! My princess is also almost 18 so it would be a little different if I had a younger princess!

 

[MEK]

Maddie's outfit is so cute! She looks so excited.

Beautiful view! I stayed in a similar location on my very first trip to world many years ago and those pictures bring back good memories.

Your room looks so cool. Thanks for pointing out all the great details. They really did a lovely job.

So glad all your luggage came together even though it was a bit of a wait.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Ahhhh...love the updates! Those rooms are amazing!! Wonder if I could convince DH and DS that we should stay there "just for momma"?

Your packing and leaving post makes me so excited...we are 32 days out and I am making the "official notebook" this weekend! You know, instead of the "unofficial" one I've been working in!

Maddie looks fantastically adorable! I love the Alice dress! Can't wait to read more updates and see more pics...your trip reports are the best!

 

[amandaw]

YAY! Y'all made it to Disney! I love, love, love the princess room! I want to stay in one sooooo badly but I've been vetoed by all the testosterone in my family. Maybe if I go for my birthday one year.....

Anyway...glad the room was great & that they were able to find all 5 bags for y'all. I would have been stressed.

Maddie is so adorable in her Alice dress! That has to be one of my favorites!

 

[JennisSilly]

You've inspired us to book a Royal Room when we spend a few days at WDW before our Disney Cruise in May! So gorgeous!

 

[Caretames1]

I am so jealous right now. POR is my resort and I love it dearly. Our next trip (not this year) is going to be back at POR. To me it's just the most relaxing place we've ever stayed.

Maddie looks like she grown! Why can't our girls stay little! I'm going to post some new pics of Kadence soon and you'll freak when you see how old she looks and how tall she's gotten!

Love the Alice costume! I need to get over and check out your esty store.

 

[disneylvr4vr]

All caught up! Glad you enjoyed staying at POR! I just LOVE it there! I also stayed in oak manor, it's the most beautiful manor! Your room looks very similar, but we did have the silly pics. I think I prefer those. Glad all of your luggage arrived on time! Sounds like you had VERY little sleep, but who can sleep when there's Disney right outside your door? Can't wait to read about your first character meal!

 

[Lisa29]

Yay, you started! I am very late, sorry.

Great start, the concert sounds like it was amazing.

I love your room. It is perfect for girls who like princesses. May have to try and stay here one day.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[Clarf]

OMG, I love that room. We have tried convincing our girls to stay there, but after staying in the pirate room at CBR, we can't get them to change. Even with the promise of all the princesses and fireworks over the bed. They just want to drive those pirate beds. That resort is gorgeous. I love New Orleans. Some day I'll stay there, with our without my kids.

Seriously? That guy needed a snack? Did he not know where he was going? I would have been so mad.

I love Maddie's Alice dress. It is so cute. I love her poses in it. Can't wait to hear more.

I'm going to Wrigley on Sunday! Can't wait! I got free tickets from work because they are playing the Brewers, but I'll be there in my Cubs jersey.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Can't believe I missed the start of your TR!!! But, I'm all caught up--at least for now. We leave Saturday for our quick pre-deployment Disney fix so I'm sure I will get behind again!

Can't wait to read about all of your awesome Disney meals and see all of Maddie's costume changes!

 

[TruLovesKiss]

Oh wow! The Royal Guest rooms at POR are just beautiful!!! LOVE the princess theming and the fireworks headboard. My 3 girls would be in heaven! But as a family of 6, we would never fit into one .... well unless we decided to leave the boys at home!! (haha, maybe someday!)

Maddie looks adorable in her Alice dress!