The 999'th Haunt stole my bra Completed 7-20, Final thoughts added 8-20

[thumper*]

I guess early check in not happening.

I wasn't surprised though since it was a Saturday

Can't wait to hear about your DS adventures!

Coming soon

POR two years ago

POR is beautiful I'd have a hard time choosing between POR or POFQ now they are both great for their own reasons. POR for it's quietness and POFQ for it's ease of getting around since it's so small.
For some reason a quote didn't work.... I bet it would be cool to watch them rangle a gator in person, I've only seen it on TV.

a couple years ago they actually made it LEGAL in CA!

That's just nuts. Do you find you get a lot of middle finger exercises done while in traffic LOL.

Great trip report! Love that photo with your head in the gator's mouth! PRICELESS!

RedsDrew and thanks for following along. I see in your siggy that your getting hitched Mayish, how exciting. So are you getting married on Disney property? Is there a PTR I can check out?

 

[thumper*]

Sat Dec 2’nd

Alligators, Shrimp and a Duck

Part 3 Disney Springs Reveling and lot's of new friends


Soon we're at DS and disembark our boat and head into DS, but not with out Mark making another friend first. Mark saw this gentleman walking to the boat dock and had to stop and get a picture. This made everyone around us laugh.


We ran across this photo op and I made Mark pose for me with Olaf.

This is as close to an Olaf M&G he'll get for the trip.





I knew prior to arriving that I wanted to take Mark to The Boathouse since we’re boat lovers and I knew he would love it. Also when I read @ariane37 review from February of the Fillet Mignon Sliders that we had to try them. We were able to just walk out to the bar out on the deck and got a great table next to the water. Our waitress was Debbie and she did a great job. Mark ordered a Heineken and I had a Samual Adams Boston Lager.

Notice that lady behind Mark at the bar with the surprised expression on her face? There was very close Football game on TV it was 2 different FL teams competing against each other and it was a very close game. Many of the folks were into the game, really helped to make a great atmosphere, with all of their rooting and hollering.



Debbie told us when we placed our order that the sliders would be cooked medium and we said that would be fine. The sliders were very good but were on medium rare so I had a bite of one and let Mark have the rest of it since I prefer mine medium.


Mark really enjoyed the amphibian cars.



Soon it was time to go discover other areas of DS. We looked through their gift shop but didn’t find anything we had to have so on we go.

At my picture limit so I'll end here for tonight.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Mark saw this gentleman walking to the boat dock and had to stop and get a picture. This made everyone around us laugh.

Hilarious!!

I'm still wondering when the "duck" comes in to play this day...unless I've forgotten about it and it already happened. I remember the alligator and the shrimp...what a day of wildlife you've had!

 

[pkondz]

today was our move to Disney property.

Always a good day!

there is something special about being on Disney property.

At the stop light near our condo we had an alligator sighting in another StayBridges pond.

Huh! Cool! (Maybe not if you live there.... )

It was pretty large (7’-8’) in my limited experience, large enough to eat a full size human. Just ask Cap't Hook.

Glad that someone else has that job, gator wrestling isn’t my thing.

I think you could do it. I have faith in you.

He actually complained to a toll booth operator about how bad the roads were and was quite rude to her. Humm seems to me she has no control over the condition of the road and of course that was a highly energized discussion between us.

No. Actually that's not true.
I drove through there shortly after and the road was completely fixed! The toll booth operator was just putting the finishing touches on it. Thanks, Mark!

This time a convoy of about 5 Corvettes and Porsches raced by at about 100MH.

Cool!



No?

Reminded me of our driving an RV on the Autobahn and being passed by speeding exotic sports cars.

Now that must have been an experience!

I of course had to put the button on

Well... of course.

Hey! It's one of the dwarfs!
Guess which one!

Humm I guess I felt I could wrestle this gator. Well he is smiling after all.

See???? I knew you could do it.

He says no he forgot that it was my birthday. I give him a hard time and tell him he’ll have to make up for it.

I thought about laying on the concrete with my head next to it and the beer in my hand but didn’t. I now regret not doing it because it would have been a great preview for the rest of our day as Revelers

Uh, oh......

Mark saw this gentleman walking to the boat dock and had to stop and get a picture. This made everyone around us laugh.

Fillet Mignon Sliders

mmmmmm! Sounds yummy!

We were able to just walk out to the bar out on the deck and got a great table next to the water.

Nice.

Notice that lady behind Mark at the bar with the surprised expression on her face?

The one whistling?

 

[CaseFace5]

Soon we're at DS and disembark our boat and head into DS, but not with out Mark making another friend first. Mark saw this gentleman walking to the boat dock and had to stop and get a picture. This made everyone around us laugh.
View attachment 297813

This is a riot!!! Too funny!

I want to try the Boathouse next time we go, I've heard such good things!

 

[RedsDrew]

I wasn't surprised though since it was a Saturday

Coming soon

POR is beautiful I'd have a hard time choosing between POR or POFQ now they are both great for their own reasons. POR for it's quietness and POFQ for it's ease of getting around since it's so small.
For some reason a quote didn't work.... I bet it would be cool to watch them rangle a gator in person, I've only seen it on TV.

That's just nuts. Do you find you get a lot of middle finger exercises done while in traffic LOL.


RedsDrew and thanks for following along. I see in your siggy that your getting hitched Mayish, how exciting. So are you getting married on Disney property? Is there a PTR I can check out?

We are getting married at home on May 12 and leaving for the honeymoon on May 30, just over 2 weeks later. So excited for sure! Both for the ceremony/reception and the honeymoon! I haven't even thought about writing a pre-trip report. But I think doing so would be a lot of fun. You gave me a great idea, if I can figure out how to add pictures and such.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just stumbled onto your trip report..loving it!

 

[RedsDrew]

I wasn't surprised though since it was a Saturday

Coming soon

POR is beautiful I'd have a hard time choosing between POR or POFQ now they are both great for their own reasons. POR for it's quietness and POFQ for it's ease of getting around since it's so small.
For some reason a quote didn't work.... I bet it would be cool to watch them rangle a gator in person, I've only seen it on TV.

That's just nuts. Do you find you get a lot of middle finger exercises done while in traffic LOL.


RedsDrew and thanks for following along. I see in your siggy that your getting hitched Mayish, how exciting. So are you getting married on Disney property? Is there a PTR I can check out?

Well I did it! I started a PTR as you suggested. Figured out how to include photos and followed suit. Thanks for the inspiration! It's located here.

 

[Raeven]

The sliders were very good but were on medium rare so I had a bite of one and let Mark have the rest of it since I prefer mine medium.

I prefer medium too. I don't know if you saw my review, but my sliders were so gross. They were all chewy and fatty, but yours look really plump and delicious!

 

[amazingact21]

My in-laws live on the east coast of FL, so I have to take 528 a lot when I'm in that area and agree that the tolls are a bit excessive. I have a Sunpass, but it still hurts when I get home from a trip and see almost 20 bucks deducted from my account just for one visit to Disney and family!
(And drivers on that stretch of road are just plain nuts.)
Glad you were able to try shrimp and grits for the first time!

Sorry the sliders weren't what you were hoping for, but at least you can say you tried them and had the experience. If nothing else, the Boathouse looks like it was a pleasant way to spend a little time in the shade at DS.

 

[kastoney]

Here's the same image blown up.

Yikes!!! That is a huge gator. I don't think that rope is going to do much of anything.

I ordered the shrimp and grits as I have wanted to always try them.

Love a restaurant that is all things shrimp. Hope you enjoyed the shrimp and grits. One of my favorites.

t was good but way too much food. Mark and I just drank water for lunch but had to laugh at one of my cousins, she had ordered a margarita on the rocks took a drink and exclaimed loudly did you guys put any tequilla in here. Yep that’s what I come from. On occasion Mark gives me a hard time if I have a beer or Bloody Mary before noon saying “Well that’s a Smith (not my real my maiden name) for you”. What can I say I inherited that drinking gene and my cousins are no different.

Some of us just got the good genes

Guess he thought the stern face was going to make a point.

I think he was remembering the toll road experience from earlier

Humm I guess I felt I could wrestle this gator. Well he is smiling after all.

Better wrestle that one than the one from earlier.

As we were walking around we discuss our plans for the day. Our original plan was to take the boat to Disney Springs and then come to the hotel change clothes and then head over to Epcot to snack around the world. Since we were right by the boat dock and a boat had just pulled up we downed our beers and jumped on it to DS. I enjoy this ride so much.

The boat to DS was my favorite thing about staying at Port Orleans!

Soon we're at DS and disembark our boat and head into DS, but not with out Mark making another friend first. Mark saw this gentleman walking to the boat dock and had to stop and get a picture. This made everyone around us laugh.

Our waitress was Debbie and she did a great job. Mark ordered a Heineken and I had a Samual Adams Boston Lager.

Looks like a great afternoon. There is nothing better in my book than a cold beer on the water!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Mmmmm those steak sliders sound and look good. I'm a Medium guy too myself, but I'd eat them even if slightly more rare. Love that Mark finally got to meet Olaf if only in flat form haha

 

[princesspaige]

Just wanted to check in and say hi I've been reading since day 1 but I tend to be a lurker and not a poster/commenter. I am loving your TR so far...I LOVE POFQ. Haven't stayed there in years but it is by far my favorite resort. Excited to read about the rest of your adventures!

 

[thumper*]

mmmmmm! Sounds yummy!

I want to try the Boathouse next time we go, I've heard such good things!

I prefer medium too. I don't know if you saw my review, but my sliders were so gross. They were all chewy and fatty, but yours look really plump and delicious!

Sorry the sliders weren't what you were hoping for, but at least you can say you tried them and had the experience.

Mmmmm those steak sliders sound and look good. I'm a Medium guy too myself, but I'd eat them even if slightly more rare.

The Sliders were very good, it's just a texture thing for me. I would recommend them to anyone considering them.

 

[thumper*]

I'm still wondering when the "duck" comes in to play this day...unless I've forgotten about it and it already happened.

No you haven't forgotten that part of the day is still yet to come.

Always a good day!

I think you could do it. I have faith in you.

Give me enough beer and I probably could.....could walk away missing an arm that is.

No. Actually that's not true.
I drove through there shortly after and the road was completely fixed! The toll booth operator was just putting the finishing touches on it. Thanks, Mark!

I'll have to let him know what a favor he did for society.

Cool!



No?

Yes it was cool, Mark bent out of shape not so much.

Now that must have been an experience!

I have a hilarious video of him driving down a steep mountain in Italy. As his aunt put's it praying to Jesus for help (yep you guessed it he wasn't praying to Jesus).

See???? I knew you could do it.

It was the smile that made me think I could handle him.

I just stumbled onto your trip report..loving it!

hope you enjoy it. I've seen ya around the boards are you active on the POFQ thread?

Well I did it! I started a PTR as you suggested. Figured out how to include photos and followed suit. Thanks for the inspiration! It's located here.

Yay I'll come check it out.

Hope you enjoyed the shrimp and grits. One of my favorites.

It was delicious, prolly only ate about 1/4 of the grits just so I could try to eat as much of the shrimp as possible, still wasn't able to finish all the shrimp.

Some of us just got the good genes

We're blessed.

think he was remembering the toll road experience from earlier

There is nothing better in my book than a cold beer on the water!

Just wanted to check in and say hi I've been reading since day 1 but I tend to be a lurker and not a poster/commenter. I am loving your TR so far...I LOVE POFQ.

I also liked POR, I would be hard pressed to choose one over the other. I

 

[thumper*]

Sat Dec 2’nd

Alligators, Shrimp and a Duck

Part 3 Disney Springs
Wine glasses, socks, an apron and those nutty reindeer

We left The Boathouse and went into World of Disney and got lost in there for an hour. The first thing I grabbed was 2 bags of Gingerbread Popcorn. 1 for my mother and 1 for MIL. I then saw the Minnie Mouse Apron that I had asked Mark to get me on our 2014 trip that he didn’t get. I had told my MIL about it prior to leaving on vacay so she told me if I saw it this time to get it and it would be a Christmas present from her. So in no time I found one and had it in my hands.

I quickly figured out at this pace I wasn’t going to be able to carry everything, so I found a basket to carry it all in. I also found a few pairs of socks that were adorable and on sale so I picked those out and they also appeared as a present on Christmas.



Oh and that Gingerbread popcorn. I gave my MIL hers the day we got back from vacay. I tried it and fell in love. Let’s just say my mother ended up with a different popcorn all together. I had it gone in 2 days. I wish I had opened it and tried it while at Disney because I would have come home with many more bags of it.

I bought myself a Minnie Mouse shopping bag that was cute and am now unable to find a picture of online and not presently at home to take a picture of.

Mark found a Polo with a Mickey on it which I gave him for Christmas. You all know what a polo looks like.

We bought my brother and his BF Mickey Mouse wine glasses for Christmas presents.

They just loved them.

We remembered to use our Disney Chase Visa discount for 10% off. At this point I really needed to find a restroom, so I went to find it and Mark was suppose to meet out the front door of WOD. Ha, as you can imagine since there was more than 1 door we weren’t finding each other. After a phone call and finally finding each other he had to use the restroom. I walk him over to them and wait and people watch.

Next onto the Christmas tree trail. We start to head the direction that the sales clerk in WOD told us and soon discover that it was incorrect. We stop several more time to ask directions before we find it. But not before seeing these cute Reindeer. @Raeven I swear I didn't steal this pic from your TR. LOL they are so similar.

​

We are both big Christmas lovers and collect Christmas ornaments. We even put our Christmas tree up the first week of November this year so it wouldn’t interfere with our Disney Vacay. Last year when I told Mark about the Christmas Tree trail we knew we had to check it out. I know a lot of people gave the trail bad reviews last year but I really enjoyed all of the pics I saw of it. I had heard reviews that this years was better so I had high hopes for it. We finally found the Christmas tree trail and quickly make our way through it not very impressed, though the snoap was a surprise and it was great to watch the little kids playing in it. We left the trail disappointed and thinking that maybe it was just because it was still day light out, and it was hard to see the lights. Also it was very busy and it was hard to get a pic w/o someone jumping into our shot to get their own picture. UGH. It also didn’t allow you much time to see the ornaments in the tree because you would be in someone’s picture. We only took a couple of pictures here.
I loved the Cinderella tree especially the glass slipper on top.

I'll be back to share the rest of our evening.

 

[Raeven]

. @Raeven I swear I didn't steal this pic from your TR. LOL they are so similar.

​

It's the Peanut donut walnut dog deer!

 

[thumper*]

Sat Dec 2’nd

Alligators, Shrimp and a Duck

Part 4 Disney Springs and then there was the duck

We had received our room ready text by now so we stopped to discuss what we wanted to do. We decided we were enjoying DS and to stay there and forgo Epcot for the night. At this point I was getting hungry so we headed over to Paddlefish. We took theses pics on the way.

The sun was setting and it would be a beautiful setting to sit up on the top lounge and watch the sunset with a few cocktails and appy’s. When we walked in I asked the hostess if we could go up to the lounge and she said yes but that they wouldn’t be serving anything for another 10 minutes we were too early. Once we’ve climbed the 2 flights of stairs which was very tiring after being on our feet for hours, the waiter up there said it was closed for a private event. What? Really, oh well and back down we go. As we head out I stop to tell the hostess what the waiter said about being closed for a private event to prevent anyone else from making that grueling hike up. It really wasn’t that bad my feet just hurt so it seemed worse than what it really was. She was surprised and called a manager who said that there was a private party inside but the outside deck was open for service. At this point neither of us were willing to walk up there again, plus not certain what type of service that waiter would have given anyway.


Before I continue on let me preface this with we weren’t certain about our plans for this night so I did not make any ADR’s (you know where this going right). I know Saturday night at DS what was I thinking or not thinking? After our fail at Paddlefish I took Mark over to Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar. They have Tiki mug drinks and he really wants to start collecting Tiki mugs. We walk through out Jocks and miss the last open table, so we find seats at the bar on the corner. Mark wasn’t happy with our location or the menu, so we decide to leave.

Once outside we discuss our options and I paint the picture for Mark and availability for the restaurants at DS on a Saturday nt. We decide to walk back over to The Boathouse deck and see if there are any tables available and of course they are all full, it is about 6pm after all. The host tells us it would be a 2 hour wait if we put our name in now. Somewhere in here I check MDE for any ressy’s for tonight but of course nothing is available. At this point I would have been perfectly happy going to Girhdelli for an ice cream Sundae but Mark was adamant about me eating something of substance (boo hiss). After a little bit we decide to go to Morimotos Asia and give it a try.

At Morimoto’s the host tells us it’s a 2 hr wait and I ask about sitting at the bar to eat. The downstairs bar was full, but he said there was a bar upstairs and it was pretty empty. We walked the beautiful stair case upstairs and I was just loving the décor in here. We sat at the bar since the other seating was very low and didn’t look comfortable at all. At this point we were maybe the 3’rd party in the bar. The bartender greets us immediately and asks what we would like. We tell him we would like to study the menu for a bit first. I knew I wanted a glass of Chardonnay but was waiting for Mark to decide if we were going to order a bottle or just glasses. It seemed like it took Mark forever to decide and I’m not kidding when I say the bartender checked with us at least 3 times before we ordered a drink. We started off with each of us getting a glass of Stag Leap Chardonnay. This was so yummy. After a bit I ordered some Crab Rangoons. These were good but came out in the shape of Taquito’s and immediately made me think of cheap and poor quality gas station food, but they were good and had real crab in them. With the Crab Rangoons gone we ordered a Spicy Tuna roll for Mark and I had a California roll (boring I know but I like them). These were also good. After this we were still hungry so ended up ordering the Whole Peking Duck. See @MeghanEmily you didn't miss it. I like Duck but I’ve never had this before. What did I think? I loved it and would order it again in a heart beat. We had several glasses of the Chardonnay with the meal and wished we had just ordered the bottle. For dessert Mark ordered his 4’th glass of wine and I had the Snow Shadow Sake (thinking of you here Kari @kastoney). In total we had 7 glasses of wine but they only charged us for 6 giving us a break since we didn’t order the bottle. That was nice but not expected. Sorry I didn’t take many pictures here, I was a little embarrassed with the bar being so slow in the beginning but after several glasses of wine I no longer cared so I did get a pic of the Duck and the sake.


At Christmas when we showing our pic to family I had to laugh when my brother asked why I took a picture of a glass of water.

We enjoyed our waiter and waitress Eli & Christina and chatted quite a bit with them until the place filled up and they were too busy. Christina is also a Sommelier and she gave Mark many bartending tips. As usual Mark made friends with a guy sitting next to him and then a larger group that sat there later. According to our receipt our ticket was started at 6:43pm and we paid at 9pm.


We left Morimoto’s and walked around the area some. I jokingly asked Mark if he wanted to stop at Raglan Road for some beers. This is funny because Mark hates the music in Irish restaurants and I knew his answer before asking.

As we were leaving this area we happened upon a very tall Toy soldier.



We proceeded to the Christmas store to see what we might find. After a quick walk through we don't see anything that we had to have so decide to head back over to the Christmas Tree Trail.

So what will we think of our night time walk through CTT?

 

[MeghanEmily]

I like the Mickey wine glasses you brought back as gifts! We were looking at those, and others that were similar. My mom loves wine glasses and goblets and has a collection. But she was worried that since she was flying she'd never get them home without breaking them.

There's the duck!! Looks like your pick for somewhere to eat ended up being a good one! We always end up just doing QS when we're in DS with no reservations, either at Cookes of Dublin, or D-Luxe burger, so I don't think I would have thought of the Morimoto bar, but it looked like a great choice!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Wow, you all really explored DS this day. We loved Morimoto when we tried it. I love all your Disney finds for Christmas great shopping spree.

Sorry you didn’t care for the Tree Trail. I really enjoyed it.