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

[GrandCalifornian]

Sounds like a fun - if long - day! Sometimes those long days can feel like two days even while you are living it and you find yourself say "wait, that was just this morning that we did that?"

Yes, that totally happens for us. It makes the trip feel longer though when it feels like each day was more than one.

Love the Lego store and I would say leaving there after only spending $10 is definitely a victory.

I think I would be too nervous to do the grab bag - but looks like there was some good stuff in there. I never actually knew they did that anywhere - seems like a fun idea

The mini figures are fun, and Allie loved it. The grab bag was from one of the smaller Disney gift shops in the middle near Wolfgang Puck's. It is a small shop, but we often seem to find something neat we want there.

Funny that you have eaten at Trails End every trip and we have never eaten there - just goes to show you how many options there are and how many different ways to have a WDW vacation

Glad you didn't feel upset about not staying at Wilderness Lodge once you got there and were, in fact, really happy about staying at POR

Yeah, we love Fort Wilderness and Trail's End in particular. It is one of those relatively quiet corners of WDW tat we like to explore. You are so right that there are lots of different ways to do it. That's something we love about the DIS, we read about what other people do and get new ideas.

We still love our Wilderness Lodge, but it was fine to stay at POR for this trip. Both are great resorts, with lots of similarities in their quiet feel.

Your evening at DTD looked like fun. I agree that $10 for custom made Legos is a bargain. Do they have comfy chairs for parents to sit in while the kids play with the Legos?

There weren't any great seats, but we walked around and looked at the other neat stuff in the store.

I can't believe that you made it to FW from DTD in that short of a time. Was it a direct bus?

Yes it was direct, although it was to the Outpost Depot where we then hopped on an internal FW bus. The whole process went so quickly that we thought about considering that route as an option for getting to/from DTD from WL as well... It probably wouldn't be any faster normally, and would have three modes of transportation rather than one, but it still went quickly for us that night.

We love eating dinner at Trail's End. The fried chicken is my favorite. Even when you aren't too hungry it seems easy to eat a lot. Originally we had dinner plans there on our last trip, but it worked out better to eat at Whispering Canyon Cafe on our Halloween party night, so we switched it.

Ahh yes, WCC is often in competition with TE. We generally prefer dinner at TE and the breakfast at WCC, but both are great places to eat in the neighborhood.

We stopped at the WL when we were staying at the YC in September. DH wanted to spend some time in the lobby, soaking up the atmosphere. There is no other place like it in WDW, although AKL would come close.

I like to bring a refillable mug to the parks, too. They are easy to carry and we often do a little resort hopping. It is nice to have them with you when getting off the boat at WL or walking around the Epcot resort area.

I'm glad that POR is working out so well for you.

Yes, there is just something great about hanging out in the WL lobby. We were glad to be there, even though we weren't staying there this time. Overall we do see the extra value in WL, but as is typical with Disney stuff it is priced so well that it really is an individual decision as to whether it is worth it for a particular trip. We will be back to WL, but could totally see staying at POR again sometime.

 

[Marsheliz]

No trip to Disney is complete without a trip to the Lego Store! Our boys love Legos! When planning our upcoming trip- I tried to leave DTD out but I just can't do it! Lol!

I hope we get to stay at POR again but right now it's sold out.. Been playing around some with our dates.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

No trip to Disney is complete without a trip to the Lego Store! Our boys love Legos! When planning our upcoming trip- I tried to leave DTD out but I just can't do it! Lol!

I hope we get to stay at POR again but right now it's sold out.. Been playing around some with our dates.

Yes, we love the Lego store, and we frequently visit the one here in CA and take advantage of the AP discount they offer. You just can't have a WDW trip without visiting DTD. This was our first trip where we actually felt like we got to spend enough time there, since there are a few more visits coming up.

I hope you can get POR too. POFQ isn't bad either, or if you are certain about not needing to cancel or change dates renting points at OKW or SSR might be an option too, but the lack of ability to cancel and having to pay up front is a big deal. Hopefully something good opens up for you.

 

[WDWKOOK]

There is never a wasted moment on your Disney trips. So well planned and executed

Love that your surprise was an Orange Bird magnet. Mine is nesting in between my WL and FW magnets on the fridge. That photobombing baby with her legs up in the stroller is so cute (but, not as cute as the star of the show).

Comfort food is right - that's just how I feel about TE. Everything there is easy going and tasty and it's in a relaxing setting.

I did a double-take with your POR lobby photo. For just a second I thought it was GF. They have some very similar qualities. It's beautiful, especially empty. I like that you guys chat with the CMs. To me, it's part of the whole vacation experience…DH and DD not so much, but I make up for their more reserved demeanors

 

[GrandCalifornian]

There is never a wasted moment on your Disney trips. So well planned and executed

Love that your surprise was an Orange Bird magnet. Mine is nesting in between my WL and FW magnets on the fridge. That photobombing baby with her legs up in the stroller is so cute (but, not as cute as the star of the show).

Comfort food is right - that's just how I feel about TE. Everything there is easy going and tasty and it's in a relaxing setting.

I did a double-take with your POR lobby photo. For just a second I thought it was GF. They have some very similar qualities. It's beautiful, especially empty. I like that you guys chat with the CMs. To me, it's part of the whole vacation experience…DH and DD not so much, but I make up for their more reserved demeanors

Yes, the orange bird magnet was another cool thing in the grab bag. They really did put some fun stuff in there.

We love the comfort food aspect of TE. Perhaps it is because we're so far from home when we visit, but we just love eating a nice normal meal there.

That lobby did impress me, because I didn't have super high expectations for it in comparison to WL. It definitely isn't on the scale of WL or GF, but is very nice.

We do enjoy talking with CMs, and they are just so darn friendly. They are a big part of the Disney magic for us. Compared to being at home it is always impressive to us how friendly most everybody (guests and cast members) are. It is so much more common to have a conversation with a random stranger at WDW than at home.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Hi everybody, just a quick live update. Allie is all ready for Big Hero 6 tonight in her Baymax dress that Melissa made.



We picked up a T-shirt Wednesday at the Disney Store and Ice skating Anna and Elsa dolls (they are put away for Christmas...shhh). Allie helped me pick the fabric, she wanted the sleeves to be stripes.

We're working on the next TR update and uploading pictures for it, so it should be up before too long. Have a great weekend and thanks for following along.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The dress is adorable. I hope that Allie and the rest of the family enjoy it.

 

[kastoney]

I had no idea there was a boat from OKW to DTD. Never been to the Lego store, but it looks like something my daughter (and hubby) would love. How do the little people work, do you just make how many u would like and pay per piece?

Love the mustache pic, very refined ; )

We have a family tradition of getting an ornament on every vacation and of course over indulge in disney. I've only ever purchased them in MK or MGM so I didn't know the DTD store personalized them. How cool, wait excluded.

I keep reading such good reviews of TE, yours now included. Gonna have to get over to FW one of these days.

Your WL pics make me oh so nostalgic, but POR is way more beautiful then I imagined. Any preference between it and POFQ?

Love Allies Baymax dress and oh so jealous she can wear short sleeves in November.

 

[ach222]

Allie's BBB makeover was great! Loving the entire TR so far, looks like you guys really got a lot out of each day.
I think DS will love making the mini figures as well. Hope he's as go-with-the-flow as Allie seems to be and we can get some late evenings in!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

The dress is adorable. I hope that Allie and the rest of the family enjoy it.

Thanks! We had a fun movie night on Friday and Big Hero 6 was very cute. Disney does an excellent job once again. We all laughed harder than we thought we would.

I had no idea there was a boat from OKW to DTD. Never been to the Lego store, but it looks like something my daughter (and hubby) would love. How do the little people work, do you just make how many u would like and pay per piece?

Wow, never been to the Lego store? Next to World of Disney it is the destination for us there. The way the mini figures work is you can build three of them for $9.99, and you get to choose the legs, body, head, hair or helmet, and one accessory (sword, camera, small plastic whatnot...) for each of them. Beware though, there is far more expensive stuff there for them to want, especially if both your daughter and husband find different neat things.

Love the mustache pic, very refined ; )

It is better than Allie's handprint pic from Basin last year...

We have a family tradition of getting an ornament on every vacation and of course over indulge in disney. I've only ever purchased them in MK or MGM so I didn't know the DTD store personalized them. How cool, wait excluded.

Oh yes, it is definitely worth checking out the ornament store at Downtown Disney. They have many of the same ornaments you see in the parks, but they have LOTS of them. You can also get anything personalized (with some limitations as to what they will put on them, but names and dates are ok). They then will have them available for pickup later or they will send them to your resort for pickup there, which is what we did.

I keep reading such good reviews of TE, yours now included. Gonna have to get over to FW one of these days.

From WL it is such a short trip, and checking out FW is great fun anyway. The playground is one of our favorites, and seeing the horse barns is cool. TE just has great regular food, which we particularly enjoy on our Disney trips. It is also a great place to get into without an ADR, which is how we discovered it on our honeymoon.

Your WL pics make me oh so nostalgic, but POR is way more beautiful then I imagined. Any preference between it and POFQ?

We like the more rural feel of POR vs the higher density of POFQ. They are right next to each other, and you can walk between the resorts and use the pools at both if you stay at either. POR has a bigger food court which we enjoy and have also made a point to visit during our other trips, even when staying elsewhere. POFQ is more compact and only has one bus stop, which is a nice thing. I walked over there later in the trip, so I'll post some pics when we get that far.

Love Allies Baymax dress and oh so jealous she can wear short sleeves in November.

Thanks. Yes, we are having great weather. We spent this weekend out at the lake and it was in the mid 80s. You gotta love California weather...

Allie's BBB makeover was great! Loving the entire TR so far, looks like you guys really got a lot out of each day.
I think DS will love making the mini figures as well. Hope he's as go-with-the-flow as Allie seems to be and we can get some late evenings in!

Thanks, we're glad you're enjoying following along. We packed a lot into the first few days, but slowed down and relaxed a bit in the middle of the week. Allie is a night owl anyway, and with the time difference she usually had no problem staying up late. Getting her up in the mornings was the harder part...

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for the intel on all the DTD adventures I'm clearly missing. We've avoided if the last few trips with all the construction, but there see definitely two people in my household who could do some damage in the Lego store while yours truly hit the Xmas store.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Thanks for the intel on all the DTD adventures I'm clearly missing. We've avoided if the last few trips with all the construction, but there see definitely two people in my household who could do some damage in the Lego store while yours truly hit the Xmas store.

Throw in a meal at Wolfgang Puck Express and you've got a great afternoon. Just budget a little extra travel time...

 

[GrandCalifornian]

This morning we slept in because we didn't have anywhere we had to be until dinner. I got up and went walking around the resort at about 8:30.


I got some pics of the mill, then explored the other side of Old Man Island and the Mansion buildings. I saw some painters working on the roof of the lobby building, and decided there's another Disney job I wouldn't want.


I got back to the room about 9:00 just as Melissa got up. We decided to let Allie sleep, and she woke up giggling at about 9:30, which sure beats having to drag her out of bed.

It felt nice to have a little bit of a sleep after such a long day the day before.

While Melissa and Allie got dressed Grandpa and I went in search of towels to take to the waterpark.

For some reason Paul didn't remember taking towels from the pool the previous year and both were concerned about it. I assured them it would be fine and sent them on their way.

I remember grabbing them from the Villas pool at WL, but we both felt weird about taking them from the pool area at POR, especially before the pool opened. It was fine though, and sometimes Grandpa and I try too hard to follow the rules. At least we know where I get it.

we got up and donned our suits and headed to breakfast.

We had a good breakfast at the Riverside Mill. We paid out of pocket to save QS credits, and ate with Grandma and Grandpa. Then Grandma headed to the bus stop to go shop at Downtown Disney and we stopped by the rooms on our way to catch a bus to Typhoon Lagoon. We met back up at the bus stop.

Allie got ahold of the camera while we were waiting for the bus. She's going to be a great photograper.




We were headed for Typhoon Lagoon which shares a bus with Downtown Disney. This worked out because Grandma was headed to do some shopping while we went to the waterpark.

The fancy screen said the bus would be there in 15 minutes, and in that time the estimated arrival time jumped around quite a bit, sometimes to over half an hour away, but then the bus arrived at the time it initally was supposed to, at 11:25.
We hopped on the bus, went to DTD and dropped off Grandma, then wound back around POR to Typhoon Lagoon where we arrived just before noon.


The construction around DTD definitely made this a longer trip than it otherwise would have been, but we had arrived.


The first order of business when we got to the park was to get a locker. Once we got our key and safely stowed all our junk we headed out to catch a ride on the Lazy river.


Next we decided to try Crushin Gusher, which we didn't even go see last time.


With an extra adult there was someone to stay with Allie while two of us went, so I rode with Melissa and then with Grandpa.

It is a super fun ride and I really liked it. Not too scary at all.

I liked most of it, but wasn't thrilled with the nose of the raft sinking and dunking me at the end of it both times. It was fun though. After that we headed to Allie's favorite, ketchakiddie creek.

Paul and I left Allie with Grandpa and went to ride a couple of the tube slides right there. When we got back she was riding the kids tube slide and having a ball.


She loved it, and rode a bunch of times in a row

Over and over and over again...

She worked up an appetite, so we decided to go get lunch. Allie wanted pizza, which isn't available with a kids meal so she decided for give up getting the kids meal bucket. We promised her we'd find another bucket sometime.




While we were enjoying our lunch there was some rustling in the vegitation near our table. There were two kittens playing in the bushes. They were adorable and great entertainment while we ate our lunch.

We didn't get any photos of the cats, but they were cute. After lunch we were headed back out to see if there was anything else Allie wannted to ride when she ran right into the handrail with her head.

She came around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and the bottom of the handrail got her right above her eye. Poor kid, I could tell it hurt. A CM saw the whole thing and escorted us to first aid which was right next door for some ice. We were on our way to the potty when we were heading down the stairs and after the nurse looked at the growing egg on her head and gave us ice Allie said she still had to go potty so we utilized the one in First Aid which was nice. Allie was ok and feeling fine after she went potty. Right before we went to leave First Aid the CM that watched Allie hit her head brought her a cookie from Mickey. It was a really nice gesture and another great reason to vacation at Disney.

Really, Disney CMs are amazing. Being able to walk right in to see an RN is impressive, and they are so helpful. Allie was glad to get to a restroom, I think that's why she was hurrying in the first place, and getting an extra cookie was really nice.

Then we headed to the big wave pool, and Allie was justifiably scared of the waves there but was interested in riding the slide off to the side, so she investigated it first and then enjoyed doing it.






It was a big slide for our little girl but she did great.

Then we tried to convince her to ride a raft slide with us, execting that it would be kind of like Teamboat springs. She decided she didn't want to, so she went back to Ketchakiddie creek with Grandpa while Melissa and I rode it. We got a picture of the whole park from a high spot, then rode the raft slide.




It was fun and ultimately it was a good thing Allie didn't ride it, it was a little wetter than I'd expected.

And faster and a little rougher too. I wouldn't rush to ride it again, since it wasn't as smooth as Teamboat springs. Allie did repeat her tube slide though, and had a ball.


She did that slide no less than 15 times.

Once Allie was done with her tube slide, or at least we were able to convince her to be done, we decided to head bact to the resort to change and get ready for dinner. We left the water park at 3:38 and got right on a bus, but because of their modified bus system it would take us to Epcot to connect to a resort bus. We then got to Epcot at 3:58, and had good timing catching a POR bus at 4:02 and getting back to the resort at 4:18.

When we got back to the room we noticed a few more friends had joined us.








We had a great housekeeper and she went overboard this day. A couple of these guys might have stowed away for the trip home too, and may or may not be currently in our bathroom...

Allie decided she wanted pink hair again so put that in. It didn't take too long to get ready and we started our trek to Akershus.

And that will be continued in the next update...

 

[Batgirl67]

Poor Allie with the goosebump on her head. Seemed she recovered well as those smile on the tube slide are full of pure joy.

Every time I see that lil' Yeti animal it makes me want one more and more.

Enjoying your trip. Thanks again for sharing.

Oh, and you Baymax dress was very cute.

Cheers!

Lisa

 

[Marsheliz]

Look at ya'lls big girl going down the slides! My boys wouldn't have any part of that... I LOVE water slides and can't wait until they are over their fear and Landen is older and we can enjoy the waterparks at Disney too. Lawson did go down the one at Old Man Island in June but I want to say, he only went one time.

Good idea paying OOP for your breakfast.. I do the same thing if we grab just a quick breakfast since its usually the cheapest meal of the day.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Your day at Typhoon Lagoon looks like it was great fun. It was nice to have Grandma along so that you two could have some fun. That is one of the perks of traveling with them. Some of our most enjoyable times with our grandson was when we took him to the pool, to the Magic Cookie hour at the WL, and to Club Cool at Epcot while his parents had time to themselves.

That is cute about Allie liking that tube ride. You never know what kids that age are going to enjoy. Our grandson was obsessed with the bubbling springs at the Hidden Springs pool at the WL. He loved swimming through them.

One of our kids had a Koala Bear just like the one Allie has. The housekeeper did a great job with the towels animals and arranging the toys. I love the way they try to make it special for the kids.

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Poor Allie with the goosebump on her head. Seemed she recovered well as those smile on the tube slide are full of pure joy.

Every time I see that lil' Yeti animal it makes me want one more and more.

Enjoying your trip. Thanks again for sharing.

Oh, and you Baymax dress was very cute.

Cheers!

Lisa

Yeah, we felt bad that she hit her head, but the CMs were so nice I think it was a positive experience overall, even for Allie.

Yeti is super cute, and Allie loved bringing him along with us.

We're glad you're enjoying following along. We love going back over all the fun that we had. Thanks for your dress compliment too, Allie likes them and they aren't too hard to do.

Look at ya'lls big girl going down the slides! My boys wouldn't have any part of that... I LOVE water slides and can't wait until they are over their fear and Landen is older and we can enjoy the waterparks at Disney too. Lawson did go down the one at Old Man Island in June but I want to say, he only went one time.

Good idea paying OOP for your breakfast.. I do the same thing if we grab just a quick breakfast since its usually the cheapest meal of the day.

Allie definitely isn't too adventurous when it comes to those things. We were really surprised that she was willing to do the slide on the inner tube, but it is pretty tame and you don't have to get wet. She wouldn't do the one at Old Man Island, but that was probably more because you couldn't see the bottom from the top, so it looked bigger to her.

We like to share breakfast stuff, and they are cheaper than other meals, so it did work out well for us to do a couple OOP. By the end of the trip though we had enough QS credits left that we used them for breakfast too.

Your day at Typhoon Lagoon looks like it was great fun. It was nice to have Grandma along so that you two could have some fun. That is one of the perks of traveling with them. Some of our most enjoyable times with our grandson was when we took him to the pool, to the Magic Cookie hour at the WL, and to Club Cool at Epcot while his parents had time to themselves.

That is cute about Allie liking that tube ride. You never know what kids that age are going to enjoy. Our grandson was obsessed with the bubbling springs at the Hidden Springs pool at the WL. He loved swimming through them.

One of our kids had a Koala Bear just like the one Allie has. The housekeeper did a great job with the towels animals and arranging the toys. I love the way they try to make it special for the kids.

We really did enjoy the TL trip. It was nice to have a laid back day in the middle of the trip.

Kids are funny, you just never know what they'll enjoy and what they'll be scared of. Once she decides she likes something though she often just can't get enough of it.

Allie's Koala was new to her this summer. Grandpa Jim bought it for her during our Utah trip, and he is just so cute and snuggly that he has become a favorite. Allie enjoyed seeing what the housekeeper set up for her (actually we all did) so it really added to our trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Allie looks like she is having so much fun on that raft ride! Sorry to hear about her bumping her head - that rail was probably perfect height to do just that! There there was a great CM right there ... and a cookie can go a long way to healing a ****oo

All those towel animals are so fun!

Hope you enjoyed Big Hero 6 - my daughter got pretty scared and spent half the movie hiding her head ... but I really liked it at least

 

[WDWKOOK]

There there was a great CM right there ... and a cookie can go a long way to healing a ****oo

I think the Badworddeletebot2000 needs a software update

I think it's great that Allie was able to go down that slide as many times as she wanted. She must have slept well that night, especially with the cute set-up awaiting your return. I love it when the housekeepers do that. It's so cute how the two American Girl dolls are looking at each other over the towel animal.

Allie takes a really good photo - everyone is in the frame and it's focused - better than many adults. Fun seeing the menu board - I don't think I've ever seen that photo before.

Melissa looks perfectly "lazy" in the inner tube on the "lazy" river. Did Allie ever fall out of her own inner tube?

 

[GrandCalifornian]

Allie looks like she is having so much fun on that raft ride! Sorry to hear about her bumping her head - that rail was probably perfect height to do just that! There there was a great CM right there ... and a cookie can go a long way to healing a ****oo

All those towel animals are so fun!

Hope you enjoyed Big Hero 6 - my daughter got pretty scared and spent half the movie hiding her head ... but I really liked it at least

Yes the cookie did more to make her feel better than the ice pack. Her Boo Boo was for gotten pretty quickly.

The towel animals were having quite a party with Allie's stuffed friends. It must have been a pretty wild morning...

I think the Badworddeletebot2000 needs a software update

**** I guess so. Darn computers...

I think it's great that Allie was able to go down that slide as many times as she wanted. She must have slept well that night, especially with the cute set-up awaiting your return. I love it when the housekeepers do that. It's so cute how the two American Girl dolls are looking at each other over the towel animal.

Allie takes a really good photo - everyone is in the frame and it's focused - better than many adults. Fun seeing the menu board - I don't think I've ever seen that photo before.

Melissa looks perfectly "lazy" in the inner tube on the "lazy" river. Did Allie ever fall out of her own inner tube?

Allie had a ball doing what she wanted, and we all enjoyed ourselves. We didn't push her to ride anything she didn't want to, and I think we all had a great day because of it. She did play hard though, and as you'll see in the next update just couldn't make it to dinner without a nap.

She is a good photographer, especially for a four year old at the time. She is quite insistent that she gets the shot she wants, and she checks to make sure it came out the way she wanted.

Allie did a little relaxing in the tube, but preferred climbing around on it and on us. She never fell off, but did like to get off and float in the river for a bit with her life jacket on. It was a fairly calm place for her to swim.