She's Five at Riverside - A September 2014 Trip Report (Completed 2/27)

[vleeth]

It's so refreshing to see a family that can go with the flow and have a great time even in the rain. Excited to see how turning 5 went!

 

[MissMaryQC]

Looks like your Epcot evening was a great success!

I love your Fish and Chips tradition. Some of the best eating I've done in Disney has been curbside.

I've only been on Soarin' once due to long lines, so to see that it was a walk on is pretty impressive.

I'm so glad you guys brave the Florida rain, being from Miami myself I've learned to embrace our little downpours, and it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

 

[Sisa]

Joining in!

I just read through your TR, I love it! I think the fact that you both share this TR is really neat. Allie is adorable as well as all her incredible clothes! I adored your video, you indeed captured some amazing footage.

We are headed to our first WDW visit in September, so I'm really enjoying hearing how your trip went.

 

[WDWKOOK]

Wonderful installment that I missed while on vacation

Love the personalized birthday ornament, I hope it made it home safely. Though I've never rented one, I think the Surrey Bikes may be harder to get around in than they look and the koala was little to know help. If you ever got the Suburban, would you drive it to FL? Just imagine how much you could haul in that…you could bring the dogs

Much happiness and good health in 2015 to Paul, Melissa and Allie!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Your evening in a soggy Epcot looked like fun. In all the years we have been going to WDW, we have never tried the Fish and Chips. I really need to remedy that, since I've heard so many good reports about it. We also liked the concert series that they run with the Flower and Garden Festival and the Food and Wine Festival. I kind of wish they had them year round, since it is so nice to have a little extra to do in the World Showcase.

We had family visiting us this holiday season and I showed some of your trip report pictures to our five year old granddaughter. She really enjoyed seeing what Allie was doing on her trip. Samantha got a Snow White dress and a Cinderella dress from Santa, so one of those will be making an appearance at Bibbity Bobbity Boo later this month. I hope the appointment doesn't take more than an hour and a half. We have a fast pass for Be Our Guest afterwards. Then we have Enchanted Tales with Belle after lunch. All three of those will be first time events for them.

 

[tybella]

Wow great trip report we are headed there next month staying at the riverside so thank you for all the great tips

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I love the ornament!

What a lovely evening at Epcot! Dinner from the food booths sounds delish, and ending the evening with a ride on Soarin' is fantastic! It's too bad about the FP+ glitch, but I'm glad it didn't end up being an issue.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Wow, what a neat surprise to get back from vacation in the desert and see all these replies. We're back to work now, so we'll get working on another update soon.

What fun to ride the bike together around the resort. I'd seen these at boardwalk but didn't realize they were at other resorts as well. Looks like a good time, exercise excluded ; ) Mmmm food and wine night. While no one likes rain, glad it kept the crowds at bay. Can't believe Soarin was a walk on, don't think I've ever seen that before.

The Surry bikes are fun, and even more fun the flatter the ground is. We rented one from WL before and rode it to Fort Wilderness, which we really enjoyed. At POR you are limited to one loop, but it goes around the whole resort and was fun. The rain was so light that it really wasn't much of an issue. It was a fun night and we did enjoy round 1 of Food and Wine.

It's so refreshing to see a family that can go with the flow and have a great time even in the rain. Excited to see how turning 5 went!

Aww, thanks. We can have a good time pretty much anywhere, especially at Disney no matter the weather. The real rain was coming the next day, but we still had a great time.

Looks like your Epcot evening was a great success! I love your Fish and Chips tradition. Some of the best eating I've done in Disney has been curbside. I've only been on Soarin' once due to long lines, so to see that it was a walk on is pretty impressive. I'm so glad you guys brave the Florida rain, being from Miami myself I've learned to embrace our little downpours, and it's nice to know I'm not the only one!

We love our Epcot evenings, and a little moisture didn't hurt it a bit.

Joining in! I just read through your TR, I love it! I think the fact that you both share this TR is really neat. Allie is adorable as well as all her incredible clothes! I adored your video, you indeed captured some amazing footage. We are headed to our first WDW visit in September, so I'm really enjoying hearing how your trip went.

Welcome! We are glad that you found us and are enjoying following along.

Wonderful installment that I missed while on vacation Love the personalized birthday ornament, I hope it made it home safely. Though I've never rented one, I think the Surrey Bikes may be harder to get around in than they look and the koala was little to know help. If you ever got the Suburban, would you drive it to FL? Just imagine how much you could haul in that…you could bring the dogs Much happiness and good health in 2015 to Paul, Melissa and Allie!

Thanks! We're glad you're following along still, and we wish you a great 2015 as well.
We have an Excursion now, and Diesel enjoys having his space in it. Perhaps if fuel keeps getting cheaper we could drive to Florida, but u think we'd rather fly and have more time there.

Your evening in a soggy Epcot looked like fun. In all the years we have been going to WDW, we have never tried the Fish and Chips. I really need to remedy that, since I've heard so many good reports about it. We also liked the concert series that they run with the Flower and Garden Festival and the Food and Wine Festival. I kind of wish they had them year round, since it is so nice to have a little extra to do in the World Showcase. We had family visiting us this holiday season and I showed some of your trip report pictures to our five year old granddaughter. She really enjoyed seeing what Allie was doing on her trip. Samantha got a Snow White dress and a Cinderella dress from Santa, so one of those will be making an appearance at Bibbity Bobbity Boo later this month. I hope the appointment doesn't take more than an hour and a half. We have a fast pass for Be Our Guest afterwards. Then we have Enchanted Tales with Belle after lunch. All three of those will be first time events for them.

Neato! We are glad to share. An hour and a half should be fine, but you might want to get in line a few minutes before your appointment time to make sure.

Wow great trip report we are headed there next month staying at the riverside so thank you for all the great tips

Neat, you should have a great time. Feel free to ask anything.

I love the ornament! What a lovely evening at Epcot! Dinner from the food booths sounds delish, and ending the evening with a ride on Soarin' is fantastic! It's too bad about the FP+ glitch, but I'm glad it didn't end up being an issue.

The ornaments turned out great, and made it home fine. We don't ride soarin much at home because of lines, so it was neat to walk on.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

On Saturday morning, I woke up shortly before the alarm that we had set for 5:45 AM. Once the alarm went off Melissa got up and started rousting Allie. Grandpa texted us before 6 AM saying they were up and dressed. We could see that it was raining hard outside, and the rain was actually loud. We got ready while it continued to rain.
Grandma had brought a door hanger decoration that we hung up in celebration of Allie's birthday.


It was still dark and still pouring when we made our way to the bus stop. It is at times like this when you question your sanity. Normally I'm cool with rain, it's just water but the dounpour this morning seemed to ensure we would all be soaked all day. I had to really resist the temptation to roll over and stay in bed.

It was also at this point that we saw one of the disadvantages of POR vs. WL. Even with the preferred room we still had a decent uncovered walk to get to the bus, which set us up for a wet day.


We were all so excited that it didn't bother us too much though, and it was nice to be early and beat the crowd. When we arrived at the bus stop, the screen showed a MK bus coming in one minute, and it arrived and we had the whole bus to ourselves.




It picked up one cast member at the West Depot and then continued on to MK, where we arrived at 7:07 AM. There were still very few people waiting when we arrived, and we got to watch them prepare the park for the day.


Because it was raining they let us line up under the awnings before we scanned our tickets to enter the park. The area where you wait there is covered as well. By that time though the precipitation was down to a light drizzle so we weren't getting too wet.

We were near the front of the group waiting to enter the park shortly before 8AM.


We meandered down Main Street enjoying the morning and stopped to get our pictures taken by a great photopass CM (Larry) who was out working despite the drizzle.




He did a great job, and actually laid down on the wet pavement to get the shot he wanted. He was definitely one of the best PhotoPass photographers ever. Since it was barely sprinkling we got to head towards the castle and get some pics of it with almost nobody around before we headed over to Crystal Palace.


Allie was still snoozing in the stroller, where it was nice and warm and dry.


We got all checked in and I began the process of waking Allie up for the second time that day. Poor kid just isn't a morning person at all.




She was still a little sleepy as we were seated at our table, and I feared it would be a repeat of Akershus, but she woke up pretty quickly.


Pooh stopped by before we went to gget food, and Allie was happy to see him.


From then on she was up and ready to celebrate her birthday.


We had a great breakfast. Our waitress was really nice and made sure my coffee stayed hot.

The food was as great as we remembered from the year before. We had omeletes, puffed Fench Toast, sausage, potatoes, fruit, and even pastrami salmon. Our server was super friendly, even to the point of being a little creepy, but she did a good job. Allie also got to meet all the characters, and Pooh twice.






Allie really enjoyed her hot chocolate which was a treat. When we were finished the waitress brough over a birthday cupcake and a card signed by the characters.




After breakfast, Allie said that she wanted to go see Mickey Mouse, so that's where we headed.
Read more about that amazing interaction in the next update.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I've heard a lot about the record breaking levels of rain in Florida in September. Was this the rainiest trip you've had so far?

Allie looks like she is really enjoying her birthday breakfast at Crystal Palace. A birthday at WDW is a never ending party. I can't wait to hear more about her big day.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I've heard a lot about the record breaking levels of rain in Florida in September. Was this the rainiest trip you've had so far? Allie looks like she is really enjoying her birthday breakfast at Crystal Palace. A birthday at WDW is a never ending party. I can't wait to hear more about her big day.

We did really well early in the trip, but the rain on her birthday was the heaviest we have seen on any of our trips. Overall though we still did pretty well, since most of our days were dry.

Allie really did enjoy the CP breakfast. She likes the theme and characters, and particularly remembered celebrating her birthday there last year even though it was early, so we wanted to be there on the day this time and it worked out great. She had lots of other plans for her birthday too, and we got to do a lot more. Fortunately the weather didn't keep us from doing anything, as we'll show in the next updates.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I LOVE breakfast at Crystal Palace! I adore the Pooh's Puffed French Toast, and now that I've found the build-your-omelet station I don't think you'll ever be able to drag me away from that ADR.

What an excellent place to kick off a birthday celebration! We went there for breakfast on my sister's birthday in 2013, and I loved the extra details such as the table decoration and the signed card. I'm glad Allie woke up and enjoyed her birthday breakfast and the characters.

I look forward to seeing the other fun plans you have for her birthday!

 

[ach222]

Looks like you guys had a great breakfast! So glad she woke up in a good mood at CP! My kids are very much morning people which is sad for me as I am not - so I feel Allie's pain there!

Bummer on the downpour, at least it looks like it might be clearing up for the rest of your day?!

 

[Marsheliz]

OH MY HEAVENS!! Look at all that rain!! MANNNN!

I am glad you all are good sports and didn't let it put a damper on the day.

Great photo pass pics!

Crystal Palace looks so fun, I dont even think my boys know who Winnie The Pooh is so we have never done this one.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

my goodness that is some rain! Glad it didn't say like that or it would not have been much fun.

Good think you were going to Magic Kingdom though - didn't look like any other buses were coming

Those are some great photopass shots! Glad you had such a good photographer - the shot he got looking up at you all is very fun!

Sounds like a nice breakfast - constant hot coffee is definitely a key!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I LOVE breakfast at Crystal Palace! I adore the Pooh's Puffed French Toast, and now that I've found the build-your-omelet station I don't think you'll ever be able to drag me away from that ADR.

What an excellent place to kick off a birthday celebration! We went there for breakfast on my sister's birthday in 2013, and I loved the extra details such as the table decoration and the signed card. I'm glad Allie woke up and enjoyed her birthday breakfast and the characters.

I look forward to seeing the other fun plans you have for her birthday!

Yes, CP is by far our favorite breakfast at WDW. It is a definite must do, and so perfect for a birthday.

Allie had lots of ideas for what to do on her birthday, and we got to do a bunch of them!

Looks like you guys had a great breakfast! So glad she woke up in a good mood at CP! My kids are very much morning people which is sad for me as I am not - so I feel Allie's pain there!

Bummer on the downpour, at least it looks like it might be clearing up for the rest of your day?!

Yeah, she does like her sleep, especially in the morning. The rain was crazy, but it did get better and didn't ruin our plans for the rest of the day.

OH MY HEAVENS!! Look at all that rain!! MANNNN!

I am glad you all are good sports and didn't let it put a damper on the day.

Great photo pass pics!

Crystal Palace looks so fun, I dont even think my boys know who Winnie The Pooh is so we have never done this one.

It was a lot of rain, since it was coming down hard for quite a while. If we had slept until a more normal time we would have missed most of it though.

We bought Allie a Winnie the Pooh DVD before last year's trip so that she would know the characters before going to CP. She got into it, but was surprised to see that Piglet was a lot bigger than she expected...

my goodness that is some rain! Glad it didn't say like that or it would not have been much fun.

Good think you were going to Magic Kingdom though - didn't look like any other buses were coming

Those are some great photopass shots! Glad you had such a good photographer - the shot he got looking up at you all is very fun!

Sounds like a nice breakfast - constant hot coffee is definitely a key!

Yeah, that's how we knew we were super early, our only bus option was MK. We sure didn't have to wait long for it though.

Larry really was the best photopass photographer we've ever seen. He was so happy to be out working, even in the rain, and was super happy for that time in the morning. He did a great job.

The constant drink service was nice, and so was an unlimited supply of puffed French toast and custom omelets. Mmm, I wish I could be there this morning.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

When we had left off we just finished our breakfast at Crystal Palace. The goal of the day was to really let Allie decide what we were going to do, it was her birthday after all. She wanted to see Mickey again so we went up to the front of the park and waited in line to see him.

The sign said 35 minutes, which didn't seem too bad since it was shortly after park opening, and it actually went quicker than that. The character interaction was amazing, we were all blown away when Mickey sang Happy Birthday to Allie.




Those of you who watched our trip video saw this, and it was one of the major highlights of the trip.

It was very very dusty in there with Mickey and my eyes wouldn't stop watering while Mickey was singing.

Yes, we all had tears in our eyes. After that, we headed to the Barnstormer since Allie was big enough to ride it and we had booked a fastpass for it while we were waiting to see Mickey.

We had some convincing to do to get Allie on this but she was brave and rode it.

We were proud of her for trying it, but she really wasn't thrilled with it. She was most excited about heading to the island, so we made our way to Tom Sawyer Island, with a stop on the way at Gaston's Tavern.


Allie loves exploring the caves on the island.


Grandpa, Melissa, Allie and I explored the island and had a great time while Grandma shopped around in Frontierland.


The island is bigger at WDW than we are used to at home, and it is neat to get to play in the fort which is closed at Disneyland.


The weather warmed up, and we were able to take our jackets off.

It got downright muggy and humid nastyness but we were still at Disneyworld so it didn't dampen the mood too much.

It was still nice to see the sun on a day where we thought we might not.

After the island we decided it was time to head back to the resort for lunch and to beat the heat.
Allie wanted to go to "Lizzard Beach" on her birthday (remember that list of things she wanted to do from the PTR?) So we decided we'd head back for lunch and to change.

On the way out of the park we stopped to see Aurora.


There was nobody in line so it was neat that Allie got to walk right up and talk with her.


We went out of the park and waited for a bus. There were lots of people coming in, but very few leaving. I caught a shot of the very full ferry boat.


We got right on the bus that arrived at 12:44. We then got to POR at 12:56, and made it around to our South depot stop at 1:05, making it one of the quickest bus rides of the trip.

We dropped some stuff off at the room, then headed straight to the Mill to grab some lunch.

Allie got pizza and Melissa and I got Bacon Pimento Cheeseburgers. We also discovered that you can get an Apple Blossom a la mode as a dessert option, even though it requires two snack credits.


It was all delicious. I really liked the pimento cheese on the burger. I think it's a southern thing to put pimento on a burger, we really don't see it much in California.

I really enjoyed it too. I really enjoy QS burgers, and this was one of my very favorites. When we checked out we were helped by Opal, a very friendly CM who knows all the rules of the DDP and the many options at the Mill. Because of this, she often has to explain that certain combinations are not covered under the plan, or require a slight extra charge. She has a very difficult and thankless job, because it can be a complicated system and the guest has to be right, even when they are wrong. She is super helpful though, and on multiple occaisions we saw her and chose to go through her line. She agreed with our call to pay OOP for oatmeal at breakfast while saving plan meals for more expensive items. She also put the apple blossom down as a dessert item to save us a snack credit.


She was super friendly and a sweet lady to deal with.

Then we headed back to the room to get ready for Blizzard Beach. We arrived at the bus stop at 2:25 just as a bus left, but the sign showed the next one was coming in just 10 minutes, and it arrived on time. We loved knowing when the buses would come.

The park was really quiet when we got there probably because of the rain earlier in the day.


We arrived at Blizzard Beach at 2:58, and since there were only two hours left in their operating day the loccer rental only cost $2. We dropped our stuff off and checked out the lazy river, but it seemed chilly so we walked to Tikes Peak. Allie loves this area, and it is what she calls Lizzard Beach.






We hung out there until we got hot and then convinced Allie to try the lazy river again. There are some chilly waterfalls in the lazy river and Allie devised her own method of staying "dry"


After doing a lap of the lazy river we went to check out teamboat springs, but Allie wasn't interested so we instead went to the pre-teen themed lifeguard training camp with some tube slides, which she did twice.

She amazed us with how well she did on all of the slides this trip. It is amazing how quick kids grow up.

We decided to head out about 4:30, and we stoped at the shop and got Allie a red sandcastle bucket and a Sofia pin, because she wanted to get a bucket that she didn't get with lunch at Typhoon Lagoon. Then on the trip to the bus she tripped and skinned her knew, but Mommy made it all better. We got on the bus right at 5:00, and arrived at the South Depot at 5:16. Then we headed to the room to shower and get ready for dinner.

We had an ADR for Boatwrights. I was really looking forward to this ADR, I had to lobby for it when we were making our ADRs and FINALLY Paul relented and we made it for Allie's birthday.
On the way down for our ADR I took a couple of birthday pictures of Allie. I like to take some every year on her birthday ya know cause she's growing up and all.






She cooperated beautifully (this doesn't always happen).

I was interested in trying Boatwrights because we had read good reviews, but I didn't want to give up Trail's End for it. We worked it into the schedule, and I'm glad we did.

Read more about Allie's birthday dinner and evening of fun in the next update.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

aw, reading about Mickey singing Happy Birthday to her on her birthday is just about the sweetest thing! I think it is a little dusty in here too

Looks like a lot of fun at Blizzard Beach - we've always liked that park when we went - lots of fun slides and just different things to do

Such a great story about that CM who helped you in the check out line - you are right that that is a really thankless job and must be one of the more challenging ones to stay upbeat with.

Those are great birthday pictures of Allie - they do grow so fast!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Happy Birthday from Mickey Mouse? It doesn't get better than that!

I've never been to Tom Sawyer Island - I may have to make more of an effort this time as we'll have a longer trip. It looks like fun!

Blizzard Beach! We went there for the first time in 2013 and thought it was great! I love Allie's plan to stay dry on the lazy river - I may have to try it myself!

As I haven't seen many Boatwright's reviews, I look forward to seeing what you thought of it!

 

[ElsasMom]

Mickey was our first stop on my DD 5th birthday this year too. I cried when Mickey sang to her too! She had always had a problem with Mickey & Minnie not being able to talk to her. I hope they make Minnie talk soon.

I really admire how much you guys accomplish by hopping around. I'm taking note because I just got my first AP and I can finally park hop.

They do grow up fast don't they? Happy Birthday Allie!!