Duckyiam71
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2009
- Messages
- 567
I had not planned to write a trip report but I had such an amazing trip that I wanted to share some highlights.
The family- DS6, DS10, mom 76, dad 76, me 39 and a surprising DH40. My DH is deployed and surprised my DSs on his R&R.
The resort-Port Orleans Riverside
The dates- 6/19 to 6/27
We used the military discount of 40% off the room with the QSDP and the 4 day $99 tickets and added the hopper and water parks and more.
I am an OCD planner like most Dis'sers so thank you so much for all the tips. We arrived at the resort separtely meaning my folks and DH arrived much earlier than myself much to my disamy. My folks did not know the difference in adjoining and connecting rooms so we got adjoining instead of connecting. No biggie we made do. We were placed in Parterre Place, rooms 9593 and 9594. It was the next to last walkway of the resort. Again no biggie. It was a good 10 minute walk with my folks but it was manageable. The room was clean and in good shape so no complaints there. One day we arrived back when the mousekeeper was cleaning. I think we threw him for a loop because he left us with 2 EXTRA sheets and 13 washclothes.
He was extremely pleasant and left my boys toys in different arrangements everyday. Overall, POR rooms for us we were adequate. They were painting a lot of the exteriors of Parterre Place while we there.
The foodcourt was nice. We ate there 4 times over the week. From tips here on the board, we ate in the room for breakfast most days. Avoided the foodcourt at peak times. I made a mistake one day and went at 9a to get a drink and the Brazillian tour group was in there and it was a mad house. But manageble. We were "given" the refillable mugs with QSDP. I don't think we got our monies worth..we drink a ton of water this time because we did not want to get dehydrated. I liked the make your salad and pasta stations. It was always clean and they opened up Boatwrights as overflow at peak times.
The resort grounds were very well maintained. We used the quiet pool several times and only went to Ole Man River once. I swear it was hotter there than anywhere else. I did laundry. The washer was 30 minutes and the dryer was supposed to be 30 minutes but mine ran 45 minutes. Definitely glad I received free samples of all in one things(I am drawing a blank on name) thanks to the budget boards! This resort is beautiful at night as well. We rented a kayak one morning...$6 for half hour, cheap entertainment. We went fishing one morning...$13.32 for our family of 6 for one half hour. They were out of worms so we used bread as bait.
We only "caught" 3 fish.
The transportation was my one fear of this resort. We used the buses majority of the time. We used the boats to DTD as well. The bus from DTD on average was the longest time...it went to the marketplace, to Pleasure Island, to Typhoon Lagoon then to the resort and this took about 35 minutes. One day we waited, 45 minutes at DHS. The logistical manager for the buses was there explaining the whole computer program to us and how all the buses are programs and GPS. All of this did not matter as we were watching a storm come up fast. But that was it. No other problems. one night we went out at close of MK and it took us 35 minutes from the time we waited in line to the time we were at the door of our resort. We did share with POFQ. The AK and DHS consistently shared buses which was nice for us because then the South Depot was the first stop. The boats took awhile but were a nice change.
We split our days. We went early and made RD every morning then left around around 1 to 2p and then came back at 5 or 6pm. We utilized FP a lot especially using after the time expired. Thanks for the tips! It was insane some days to leave at 1p and see the hoards of people come in. We managed to get everything we wanted to do in the 4 days. Again thanks to all the tips I read here. We did this at Blizzard Beach as well. We got there at 9a and walked on everything, ate lunch, saw a snake and then watched other peoples belongings being moved by complete strangers.
It was that busy! I gave my chairs under an umbrella to a family that looked completely miserable sitting in the sun. They were extremely happy and grateful. OH! I almost forgot. We got the most amazing surprise. We were walking into EPCOT at 6p and a family came up to us and gave us their FPs for Soarin' at 645p
We were extremely thankful to that family. The mother stated they were done could not take the heat anymore!
I liked the new fireworks display, Nightastic. The first night,6/20, it was interrupted by technical difficulties. Never had that happen before. The PA came on at first and said they were cancelled. People started leaving. A few minutes later, PA stated they were being delayed. We were waiting for the bus line to calm down so were waiting anyway. Then out of nowhere Captain Hook started talking and fireworks were going. LOVED the Electrical Parade, brought back memories of being a child. Loved the murmurs of what is the dragon all about including my own children! We will be watching "Pete's Dragon" soon. BTW, while waiting for the fireworks to start, I met a family from Iowa who were all wearing lime green Disney shirts. I had to ask and to my dismay, she was not but her interest was peaked about what the Disboards were all about. My DS6 happen to be wearing his tye dye Mickey shirt and she said I could sell those. Little does she know!
The QSDP was good for us. Especially for my DH who stresses anytime we spend money. It was nice to have to "stress" over what is for dinner. We used the snacks for water. I know some people say this is a waste but it was so not that we could not each that much and did not want sodas! I never ate the same thing twice. We ate at Pecos Bills, WP Express(2x), POR foodcourt, POFQ, CS and Poly foodcourts, Sunshine Seasons, The Backstage at DHS. We also ate at Tusker House with Donald and T-REX. Kind of annoyed we paid $15 for a hamburger with chips and if you wanted fries you had to pay extra but the kids enjoyed it, so it was worth it. We also used snack credits at the Confectionery on Main Street, Main Street Bakery and Starring Rolls.
The best part of all was my DH surprising my DSs. They were attached at his hip all week. This was nice for me because for the past few months that is how it has been for me. It was hard to say goodbye at Orlando airport but it was great to see him. Now to start planning our Disney cruise for his welcome home.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I might be able to help because of all the help everyone has been here. Thanks for me helping plan our best vacation!
The family- DS6, DS10, mom 76, dad 76, me 39 and a surprising DH40. My DH is deployed and surprised my DSs on his R&R.
The resort-Port Orleans Riverside
The dates- 6/19 to 6/27
We used the military discount of 40% off the room with the QSDP and the 4 day $99 tickets and added the hopper and water parks and more.
I am an OCD planner like most Dis'sers so thank you so much for all the tips. We arrived at the resort separtely meaning my folks and DH arrived much earlier than myself much to my disamy. My folks did not know the difference in adjoining and connecting rooms so we got adjoining instead of connecting. No biggie we made do. We were placed in Parterre Place, rooms 9593 and 9594. It was the next to last walkway of the resort. Again no biggie. It was a good 10 minute walk with my folks but it was manageable. The room was clean and in good shape so no complaints there. One day we arrived back when the mousekeeper was cleaning. I think we threw him for a loop because he left us with 2 EXTRA sheets and 13 washclothes.
He was extremely pleasant and left my boys toys in different arrangements everyday. Overall, POR rooms for us we were adequate. They were painting a lot of the exteriors of Parterre Place while we there.The foodcourt was nice. We ate there 4 times over the week. From tips here on the board, we ate in the room for breakfast most days. Avoided the foodcourt at peak times. I made a mistake one day and went at 9a to get a drink and the Brazillian tour group was in there and it was a mad house. But manageble. We were "given" the refillable mugs with QSDP. I don't think we got our monies worth..we drink a ton of water this time because we did not want to get dehydrated. I liked the make your salad and pasta stations. It was always clean and they opened up Boatwrights as overflow at peak times.
The resort grounds were very well maintained. We used the quiet pool several times and only went to Ole Man River once. I swear it was hotter there than anywhere else. I did laundry. The washer was 30 minutes and the dryer was supposed to be 30 minutes but mine ran 45 minutes. Definitely glad I received free samples of all in one things(I am drawing a blank on name) thanks to the budget boards! This resort is beautiful at night as well. We rented a kayak one morning...$6 for half hour, cheap entertainment. We went fishing one morning...$13.32 for our family of 6 for one half hour. They were out of worms so we used bread as bait.
We only "caught" 3 fish.The transportation was my one fear of this resort. We used the buses majority of the time. We used the boats to DTD as well. The bus from DTD on average was the longest time...it went to the marketplace, to Pleasure Island, to Typhoon Lagoon then to the resort and this took about 35 minutes. One day we waited, 45 minutes at DHS. The logistical manager for the buses was there explaining the whole computer program to us and how all the buses are programs and GPS. All of this did not matter as we were watching a storm come up fast. But that was it. No other problems. one night we went out at close of MK and it took us 35 minutes from the time we waited in line to the time we were at the door of our resort. We did share with POFQ. The AK and DHS consistently shared buses which was nice for us because then the South Depot was the first stop. The boats took awhile but were a nice change.
We split our days. We went early and made RD every morning then left around around 1 to 2p and then came back at 5 or 6pm. We utilized FP a lot especially using after the time expired. Thanks for the tips! It was insane some days to leave at 1p and see the hoards of people come in. We managed to get everything we wanted to do in the 4 days. Again thanks to all the tips I read here. We did this at Blizzard Beach as well. We got there at 9a and walked on everything, ate lunch, saw a snake and then watched other peoples belongings being moved by complete strangers.
It was that busy! I gave my chairs under an umbrella to a family that looked completely miserable sitting in the sun. They were extremely happy and grateful. OH! I almost forgot. We got the most amazing surprise. We were walking into EPCOT at 6p and a family came up to us and gave us their FPs for Soarin' at 645p We were extremely thankful to that family. The mother stated they were done could not take the heat anymore! I liked the new fireworks display, Nightastic. The first night,6/20, it was interrupted by technical difficulties. Never had that happen before. The PA came on at first and said they were cancelled. People started leaving. A few minutes later, PA stated they were being delayed. We were waiting for the bus line to calm down so were waiting anyway. Then out of nowhere Captain Hook started talking and fireworks were going. LOVED the Electrical Parade, brought back memories of being a child. Loved the murmurs of what is the dragon all about including my own children! We will be watching "Pete's Dragon" soon. BTW, while waiting for the fireworks to start, I met a family from Iowa who were all wearing lime green Disney shirts. I had to ask and to my dismay, she was not but her interest was peaked about what the Disboards were all about. My DS6 happen to be wearing his tye dye Mickey shirt and she said I could sell those. Little does she know!
The QSDP was good for us. Especially for my DH who stresses anytime we spend money. It was nice to have to "stress" over what is for dinner. We used the snacks for water. I know some people say this is a waste but it was so not that we could not each that much and did not want sodas! I never ate the same thing twice. We ate at Pecos Bills, WP Express(2x), POR foodcourt, POFQ, CS and Poly foodcourts, Sunshine Seasons, The Backstage at DHS. We also ate at Tusker House with Donald and T-REX. Kind of annoyed we paid $15 for a hamburger with chips and if you wanted fries you had to pay extra but the kids enjoyed it, so it was worth it. We also used snack credits at the Confectionery on Main Street, Main Street Bakery and Starring Rolls.
The best part of all was my DH surprising my DSs. They were attached at his hip all week. This was nice for me because for the past few months that is how it has been for me. It was hard to say goodbye at Orlando airport but it was great to see him. Now to start planning our Disney cruise for his welcome home.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I might be able to help because of all the help everyone has been here. Thanks for me helping plan our best vacation!
