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

[MomoMama]

Great photos at Hollywood and Vine! Love Alli's necklace. Did you make that too?

This post made me remember my DD asking to go potty at the bus stop...it was at MK and our bus stop was all the way at the end. I ran with DD and when we safely made it to the restroom, I was SO glad! After that, we always made sure to take her to the restroom before the bus ride!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Your lunch at H&V looked like fun. We tried to get an ADR for that restaurant last October because our grandson was a huge Handy Manny fan, but nothing was available. But we did see them at the Disney Jr. Show and that was a lot of fun.

I agree that kids just need some time to run around and play at Disney. When you think about it most park time is spent just standing, sitting or walking.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Another amazingly detailed post! Early mornings at the resorts are the BEST. Everything is quiet, clean and serene. It can often be like your own private resort. It's fun, too to see what goes on before most guests are up.

Love that you found a Mickey shirt with glasses on. I suspect Allie will have one soon or are they only for adults?

Very clever of Melissa to snap the photos of you in the rear view mirror! I think Jim was snoozing there in the back seat?

Allie seems to LOVE the H&V characters and none got a reaction like Beast did

Still can't figure out why they won't put those Disney Transport arrival time TVs at all the resorts

Thanks! I really enjoy the resorts in the morning. There is always something to see, and it does often feel like you have a private resort.

We got the Mickey glasses shirt last year. We had to buy it, and if we ever see a kids one we will get it too.

Allie did love all of the H&V characters, and all of the princesses we met this time too. Beast was probably the only slightly adverse reaction.

Those TV screens sure great, and it can't be long until they show up at more resorts. It is great to know how long the wait will be, and we found it to be generally quite accurate. They have the system down, now they just need more screens.

Great photos at Hollywood and Vine! Love Alli's necklace. Did you make that too?

This post made me remember my DD asking to go potty at the bus stop...it was at MK and our bus stop was all the way at the end. I ran with DD and when we safely made it to the restroom, I was SO glad! After that, we always made sure to take her to the restroom before the bus ride!

The necklace was something Melissa found on Zulilly. They had some cute ones, and Allie enjoyed having it, and she has an Elsa one too.

Allie has had a few near incidents with having to go on the bus. One time a couple years ago we threw a pull up on over her pants for the run to the potty and fortunately made it.

Your lunch at H&V looked like fun. We tried to get an ADR for that restaurant last October because our grandson was a huge Handy Manny fan, but nothing was available. But we did see them at the Disney Jr. Show and that was a lot of fun.

I agree that kids just need some time to run around and play at Disney. When you think about it most park time is spent just standing, sitting or walking.

Yeah, the Disney Jr. show is great, and kids that she just love it. H&V is great because they have the characters for the kids but still have some really nice food.

Allie does need some active time at WDW, and often it seems to come at Hollywood Studios. She loves to run around in the courtyard outside the Animation building.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I love how zen Grandpa looks on RNRC

I thought we were finally done with H&V - not that it was bad by we liked other buffets better and my kids were kinda over the characters ... and then they had to go and add Sophia and Doc so maybe it is back on the list.

Very cute comparing amulets

ugh, of course she had to go to potty once the rain came on in earnest *sigh*

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I love how zen Grandpa looks on RNRC

I thought we were finally done with H&V - not that it was bad by we liked other buffets better and my kids were kinda over the characters ... and then they had to go and add Sophia and Doc so maybe it is back on the list.

Very cute comparing amulets

ugh, of course she had to go to potty once the rain came on in earnest *sigh*

Yeah, grandpa Jim likes that roller coaster since it is surprisingly smooth.

We considered alternatives to Hollywood and Vine this year and last, but the addition of Sofia and Doc sealed the deal for this year. We have had great luck going at lunch and haven't found another buffet that we like more food-wise, so it stays on the schedule.

The potty stop worked out ok since we still made it on the bus. Having to wait for the next one in the rain wouldn't have been much fun, but it beats getting on and then finding out she has to go.

 

[MissMaryQC]

I really like the early morning resort exploring, gonna have to do that on our trip. I'm the early riser usually but I tend to get coffee and sit quietly somewhere waiting for the rest of the group. The RNRC IDE photo is great, and I love that Mickey shirt! The shot of you two in the rear view of the upside car is really fun. Allie is quite the dancer I se from those photos of y'all waiting for lunch. Never been to H&V, maybe when DD is a bit older we'll hop in for some of those meatballs! Glad Allie warmed up to the characters cause the pictures of her with Sophia are too cute! That picture of Allie waiting at the bus stop is priceless! Better to realize she had to go then than while you were on the crowded bus. And shame on that man for not closing his stroller.

 

[Marsheliz]

Sounds like you guys had a good morning/early afternoon at the studios. I had H and V booked but I cancelled it and decided I really wanted to try 50's Prime Time instead. We have done H and V before and like you, go for the characters. <3

 

[PoohBearAndMe]

I am really enjoying reading your report! We are introducing our 7 year old daughter to WDW in February, and we will be staying at Riverside....so excited!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

I really like the early morning resort exploring, gonna have to do that on our trip. I'm the early riser usually but I tend to get coffee and sit quietly somewhere waiting for the rest of the group. The RNRC RIDE photo is great, and I love that Mickey shirt! The shot of you two in the rear view of the upside car is really fun. Allie is quite the dancer I see from those photos of y'all waiting for lunch. Never been to H&V, maybe when DD is a bit older we'll hop in for some of those meatballs! Glad Allie warmed up to the characters cause the pictures of her with Sophia are too cute! That picture of Allie waiting at the bus stop is priceless! Better to realize she had to go then than while you were on the crowded bus. And shame on that man for not closing his stroller.

Yes, it is a real treat to go out before everyone wakes up, get your mug filled with your beverage of choice, and go exploring.

Allie is in ballet and a Jazz/Tap combo class, so dancing is definitely her thing. I'm not sure what genre the climbing on me falls into, but she had fun.

Yeah, the bus was a little crazy, but the bus driver handled it well and waited for people to work it out. I probably wouldn't have been as nice to the person with the stroller open in the aisle, but it all worked out.

Sounds like you guys had a good morning/early afternoon at the studios. I had H and V booked but I cancelled it and decided I really wanted to try 50's Prime Time instead. We have done H and V before and like you, go for the characters. <3

Yeah, sometime we'll have to try 50's Prime time or Mama Melrose. H&V has always been great for us though, and we don't spend a whole lot of time at HS.

I am really enjoying reading your report! We are introducing our 7 year old daughter to WDW in February, and we will be staying at Riverside....so excited!

Welcome! We're glad that you're enjoying reading about our trip, and we're excited for you getting to take your daughter to POR in February. How long are you staying? No matter how long though it just won't feel like you can do it all, so enjoy what you do and don't rush, it is all part of the fun. We should have this TR wrapped up before you leave for your trip, although we can't promise anything.

 

[kastoney]

Love the early morning resort pics. So interesting to see the carts and the "behind the scenes" outside the park.

Lucky Allie got to meet the Disney Jr. gang. Her amulet is great. We've had breakfast there twice and my daughter loves it. We only hit MGM one time this trip and bad Mommy choose SciFi over H&V. Thankfully the omission appears to have gone unnoticed thus far ; )

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Love the early morning resort pics. So interesting to see the carts and the "behind the scenes" outside the park.

Lucky Allie got to meet the Disney Jr. gang. Her amulet is great. We've had breakfast there twice and my daughter loves it. We only hit MGM one time this trip and bad Mommy choose SciFi over H&V. Thankfully the omission appears to have gone unnoticed thus far ; )

I'm glad people enjoy the results of my photographing strange things while wandering around the resort in the morning. There is always something to see.

This was Allie's third time at H&V and this time she finally got into it. Her favorite thing the first year was the wood cutouts of the characters, since she liked those more than the actual three dimensional characters. This year with the addition of Sofia and Doc she was thrilled.

Good for you that you made the SciFi substitution without causing discontent. If she doesn't know what she missed, perhaps she won't really miss it and you don't have to be "bad Mommy". We also don't spend much time at DHS, so we don't get many meals there either. SciFi is on our future list though.

 

[mickeymouse108]

enjoying your trip report we love POR

 

[GrandCalifornian]

enjoying your trip report we love POR

Great! We're glad that you are enjoying our report.

We really enjoy POR. It has some amazing features and is a great fit for us. Disney is so right on with their pricing strategy that we have a very hard time deciding if it is a better value then WL, but it certainly is a wonderful resort and it was nice that we were able to save quite a bit over another WL stay. There are always tradeoffs, but Disney sure makes it feel special either way.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

We arived back at POR at 3:13 for an afternoon break. This is something I usually really enjoy doing during our trips, but this was the first time we did it this trip. With POR's location not being quite as close to parks as WL it just isn't quite as convenient for mid-day breaks, so we adjusted accordingly. We did have some stuff we wanted to do at the resort though, so today was the day.

Plus with the rain it was nice to escape to the resort for a bit. Luckily though the rain didn't last too terribly long.

We dropped our stuff off at the room and headed out to see about renting a surry bike. We did this on our honeymoon and had fun, and Alllie wanted to do it last year but we nefer found time. The rain had stopped, so we headed out on a two seater with Allie and her Koala in the basket on the front.


She had fun ringing the bell and we enjoyed the view of the resort.






We did one complete lap around POR, and decided that that was enough for us. We had seen everything, and gotten our leg workout. After parking the bike we headed over to the arcade to use our free play voucher.

It is a workout to go around just once. I really didn't feel like pedaling around again, we were on vacation after all. We had fun in the arcade. Allie liked playing the games and if I remember correctly we ended up adding money to our card.

Yes, we added $5 to it so that we could play some more and win some more virtual tickets for prizes. Allie cashed them in for candy, which she enjoyed.
Then we headed over to Fulton's to shop around and pick up our packages that we had delivered to the resort, our ornaments and Allie's custom T shirt from Downtown Disney.




We made our way back to the room and decided that it was time to check out the pool at Old Man Island. The rain had pretty much cleared so we put on our suits and headed down there.

It was a short walk from the room, and the pool really was nice and big.


It was still a little chilly out, but we had a good time. Melissa even went down the slide.


The slide was fun but the real treat was the hot tub. I feel like a couple minutes in the hot tub while on vacation is rejuvinating.


I think we all enjoyed the hot tub. It was quiet enough that there was room for all of us, and Allie liked swimming in the warm water. After the hot tub Allie and I got back in the main pool while everyone else dried off. She talked me into going under the falling water by being very encouraging, and saying that I was a big boy and that I could do it. She liked getting splashed and then we too got out of the pool.

It started to drizzle so we decided to head back to the room to dry off and get ready for the evening.

Back at the room we showered and got ready for our upcoming evening in Epcot. Grandma and Grandpa decided to stay at the room, so we headed out on our own and arrived at the bus stop at 6:28. The sign showed a bus was to arrive at 6:37, which then updated to 6:42 which proved to be accurate. We did all the other POR stops by 6:50, and got to Epcot at 6:57. The crowd going into Epcot was generally older adults heading to Food and Wine, and Allie was the only kid on the bus.

it was a pretty damp night with heavy drizzle. We stopped by After Market and Paul checked out the Suburban. I checked it out too and really liked it. Maybe liked it a little too much. No plans to trade in the minivan now but you know....


I do love checking out the cars at After Market. This was my favorite part of WDW when I was five, and still ranks right up there. I could totally see a Suburban sometime. We tried to get fastpasses for Soarin, but found that because Allie had an unused fastpass from earlier in the day at another park she was not eligible to get one. Her fastpass was for Rock N Rollercoaster, which she would have been too short to ride anyway, but we had just gotten fastpasses for the whole group. It was an odd flaw in the system, but we chose not to go to Guest Services to look into getting it fixed.

It was slightly annoying but not a night killer. We figured it was time to hit World Showcase and find some food. The rain seemed to be keeping the crowds fairly low which was nice. Because of the rain and it being dark we didn't get great food pictures unfortunately.

We kicked things off at the Patagonia both with a steak skewer and abeef empanada, which might have been my favorite F&W item, it was great. Then we got Mongolian Beef in a bun from China which was great too. Allie was still starving, so we got her a pretzel in Germany to eat during the Jo Dee Messina concert that we were working towards. Unfortunately she didn't like it as much as the ones from Target, but that's ok, Daddy was there to make sure it didn't go to waste.

The beef empanada was probably my favorite food item we tried. It was DELISH. Allie really liked the bun from China.

We arrived at the concert only about five minutes late, and were able to stand just outside the seating area with the stroller. It was still sprinkling off and on, so Allie pretty much hung out under the rain cover in the stroller. Jo Dee Messina was really good, and I was happy that I knew all of the songs. Melissa made me into a country fan early in our relationship.


I really love her music and listened to it through high school and into college. I had never seen her live and she really put on a great show.


It was a great 30 minute concert, after which we stopped at Morocco for a kefta pocket.


Allie liked the meat in it. Then we headed to France and got white chocolate coconut ice cream and ate it in Les Halles to get out of the rain.


The icecream was so so so good.

After ice cream we got Bongous beef tips from France, and I thought they were really good too.


We continued our trip around, stopping for Fish and Chips, which was our first meal together at WDW on our honeymoon. We sat and ate them on the curb since the seating area was closed for illuminations.

The hot fish tasted good in the rain and is a sweet traditon. We've gotten fish and chips each time we've been to Disneyworld. I'm pretty sure the previous trip we sat on the curb and ate it in the rain too.


I think this is about the only place I eat Fish and Chips, but I do really enjoy them. We then did some shopping in England and then to the Food and Wine festival shop, where they had some interesting event items, but we didn't pick anything up yet.

The park had really cleared out so we decided to see what the wait was for Soarin on our way out of the park. We were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a walk on so we got to ride that again.




I couldn't believe our luck at riding Soarin without fastpasses and almost no lines. This time it helped that Illuminations was starting, so the crowds were drawn to that. By the time we got off the ride it was 10:05, so the park was closed but Illuminations hadn't finished yet. We headed towards the buses to beat the rush. We got on the bus at 10:22 and off at POR at 10:40.

It was a quick ride home and perhaps the earliest we'd been back at the resort so far in the trip.

We got Allie into her pajamas to watch some cartoons, and I got a mug refill from the Mill. Then Melissa did some work on the computer for work and we were both in bed by 11:15.

We didn't want it to be a super late night though because we had a very important occasion to celebrate the next day.

Read about the big birthday breakfast, torrential downpour, and other fun in the next update as Allie finally turns Five.

 

[Marsheliz]

Sounds like a great day to me.. Other than the rain....

I love the pool and slide at Ol' Man Island!

I want to eat around the world one day. On our last trip, I only got to try two samplings from Food and Wine because of our kids whining... LOL They need to behave like Allie seems too. LOL

 

[cstorm65]

I just found your report and and subscribing. I've ready through most of it so far and you all appear to be having a great trip. So glad that your daughter gets to experience this with the grandparents, that is awesome!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Sounds like a great day to me.. Other than the rain....

I love the pool and slide at Ol' Man Island!

I want to eat around the world one day. On our last trip, I only got to try two samplings from Food and Wine because of our kids whining... LOL They need to behave like Allie seems too. LOL

It was a great day, and the rain was light so it just kind of kept the crowds down. The downpour was coming though...

Old Man Island was very nice, even though we only swam there once this trip. We wanted to make sure we did it at least once though.

Allie was very good at Food and Wine, especially considering that she was hungry. People who had been enjoying the beverages at Epcot seemed to get the biggest kick of her hanging out in her stroller in the light rain. They were fascinated with the idea that there was a kid in there. Imagine that, in a stroller, at Disney World...

I just found your report and and subscribing. I've ready through most of it so far and you all appear to be having a great trip. So glad that your daughter gets to experience this with the grandparents, that is awesome!

Great! We are glad that you found our report, and even happier that you are enjoying following along. We did have a wonderful trip, and we are really enjoying reliving it as we post for the trip report. Having Grandma and Grandpa there for the second time was neat, and everyone had a great time.

We probably won't get another post up before the end of the year since we'll be busy with Christmas and vacation, but we'll be back to wrap up the report in January. We'd like to wish everyone following along a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks like a fun day - I love the tradition of always getting the Fish and Chips. really glad things worked out and you got on Soarin' anyway at the end of the day ... there are definitely still a few kinks they need to work out with FP+ - particularly if you don't want/need 3 for a member of your party

Allie shirt came out really good

I am glad you explained that Jo Dee Messina is country as I had never heard of that artist before ... glad you enjoyed the show!

Sounds like you had a lot of good F&WF food too. I recall last year the steamed bun from China being one of my favorites

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Looks like a fun day - I love the tradition of always getting the Fish and Chips. really glad things worked out and you got on Soarin' anyway at the end of the day ... there are definitely still a few kinks they need to work out with FP+ - particularly if you don't want/need 3 for a member of your party Allie shirt came out really good I am glad you explained that Jo Dee Messina is country as I had never heard of that artist before ... glad you enjoyed the show! Sounds like you had a lot of good F&WF food too. I recall last year the steamed bun from China being one of my favorites

It was a fun day. We really enjoyed the evening at Epcot with the concert and Food and Wine, and then topping it off with our fish and chips. We love touring Epcot like that, which is probably why it is our favorite park for both of us.

Merry Christmas to everybody. We had a wonderful day, and right now Allie is happily playing with her favorite toy of the year, a Furby. Who knew.

 

[kastoney]

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.