The One Where We Used All the Transportation : A March 2025 Sister’s Trip *FINAL UPDATE 7/14

[kclark9830]

I find your DVC experience interesting! We did this a few years back, ONLY for the gift card. We were staying at the Boardwalk, and we did our meeting there. It was a fantastic experience, and even when the CM found out we were never going to buy, he continued on with us kindly. Gave us all kinds of interesting information, and then when we left, they gave us 3 free ride passes (can't remember what he called them).

I hate that it appears they've gone downhill from that time .

Day 3 Part 5 : Okay Okay…you twisted my arm… We’ll DO IT!

We left Epcot with our prizes for NOT finding all the Eggs ourselves…A wooden block of Mickey that came with paints. I gave mine to Sheri so she would have two for her twin grand-daughters. (They were a hit, by the way.)

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Skyline photo.

For a few months prior to our trip, I was getting emails from DVC with promotions that I faithfully ignored. Then about a month prior to our trip, I was getting phone calls weekly. Always a kind message, no pressure, they saw we were coming and wanted to offer a tour. About the fourth phone call they mentioned a gift card just for taking the tour and sitting with one of the CMs. I checked in with Sheri, she was as curious as I was so we did it.

Today we had a reservation with DVC at the Polynesian Resort. One the phone, precisely five days before our trip, I made a reservation to view the bungalow’s at teh Polynesian Resort in the afternoon of our Epcot day.

After a break, and changing our clothes, we made our way to the front of the resort to wait for our ride. This is one form of Disney Transportation I never dreamed of riding in:
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The driver was super friendly - kept the conversation light and carefree. Really got our brains focused on DVC based on his families experience and that he enjoyed it so much, he now drives for them.

He dropped us off right up front, walked us to the DVC counter where we checked in then sat and enjoyed the smells of the Poly lobby while our DVC CM made his way from his office to us.

I had specified that I wanted to see the Bungalow’s - if I were to utilize DVC, I would want it to be in a Bungalow at the Poly. Can I afford a Bungalow at the Poly… NO. But this is my ‘dream’ and that’s what I want to see in person.

Our CM greets us, asks us what we want to see, we told him what we reserved and we’d like to see the rooms first rather than a tour of the resort - we’ve been here before at Ohana and didn’t really need a full resort tour.

On our walk to where I THOUGHT we were going, we did see several key spaces like on of the pool areas. Then our guy took us to the new tower…

It was beautiful! No, I did not take pictures but I should have.

Some positives to the Tower…you have to have you ‘key’ to get into the building AND to start the elevator. Random guests can not roam the building. I thought that was a nice security feature. As a ‘random guests’ I found it rude - how do I enjoy this magnificent artwork otherwise?

We went in the elevator’s to a deck area anyone in the tower can utilize and I must say…the view was devine.

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Hey look…The Bungalows.

Then he showed us a couple of rooms - nice features, the suites were nice and had great amenities within the rooms like hidden beds in the walls, multiple bathrooms, and a kitchen area. The single bed rooms only featured the bed in the walls and a small kitchenette, if you pulled down the bed…little to no walking space.

We sat down in his office and he assured us this was like no other ‘time-share’ sales pitch because DVC is not a time share. They won’t pressure anyone to buy. When he asked what made us decide to make the reservation, I was honest about the repetitive phone calls and he seemed surprised.

He steered us away from the Poly and over the Riviera Resort where he was able to give us some amazing Walt history on the library off the hallway when you are heading towards the elevators. This library is based on Walt’s trip to the Riviera which was the inspiration for the Riviera Resort. Some artifacts within the library are from the Disney Archives and Walt’s trip.

Then he discussed what our usual trips consisted of and matched us with he best plan for the Riviera. While the monthly cost really wasn’t that bad, I was still helping my child through college and had no desire to add on DVC at this time. The very moment I expressed this, he was done with us. He called for our ride and gave us directions to the lobby. Womp womp…

A few take aways - he ignored what I was really interested in to sell the Tower which I was not interested in. He mixed up my sister and I, focusing on where she would be most interested in calling her DVC home. When we said no, all Disney CM hospitality was done. IF I were to decide to join DVC in the future, I would not go to the Poly.

It did not end on a completely sour note. DVC will drive you anywhere on Disney property you want to go, not necessarily back to your resort. AND we were both given a quality Disney Gift Card, not just myself but Sheri as well which were active before the end of our meeting.

We chose to go to my true Disney home, the one resort I have completely fallen in love with…Port Orleans French Quarter. It’s small, it’s quiet, it’s on the river, and they have MICKEY Beignets!

Our chariot:
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Again, super friendly CM, talked to us about our experience, then told us his families experience with DVC.

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Home

First, a little snack:
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I had on a black t-shirt dress…first bite in I got powder all over my lady lumps…the powder wiped away pretty easily and I took note: do not breathe while eating. Easy Peasy.

I picked up the French Quarter ornament from the gift shop and we strolled through the resort towards the boats.

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So relaxing…

Our original plan was to go back to Epcot for the evening but once we decided to go to FQ, we changed our evening plans for a walk around Disney Springs.

Our view on the way:
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Not sure what the magic consists of here but I am so at peace on this ride. Every. Single. Time.

After getting some required shopping done - and yet another avoidance of the LEGO story - we took a bus back to Caribbean Beach.

We walked through the gift shop…just in case…filled our mugs, and had an early evening watching some challenge show Sheri watches - I think Amazing Race maybe - and had a variety of snacks as our ‘dinner’.

At this point you might be asking yourself if we had, in fact, ridden all the Disney Transportation options we would this week…

Find out up next during Day 4…

 

[amyjoq]

I find your DVC experience interesting! We did this a few years back, ONLY for the gift card. We were staying at the Boardwalk, and we did our meeting there. It was a fantastic experience, and even when the CM found out we were never going to buy, he continued on with us kindly. Gave us all kinds of interesting information, and then when we left, they gave us 3 free ride passes (can't remember what he called them).

I hate that it appears they've gone downhill from that time .

I like to think it was just a one off for this particular CM. He was giving us interesting information about the Riviera but the cutting off the conversation and not walking us out…didn’t settle well with me. He had an agenda and we just didn’t fit I suppose.
It did not ruin any further experiences I might have with DVC - the driver taking us the FQ, just as friendly as if we had purchased DVC.

 

[amyjoq]

Day 4 : Part 3 All the Small Things

We exited Peter Pans Flight, the part was still not open to the general public, so we did what any good mid-western girl does…we walked across the ‘street’ to enjoy a less than 5 minute wait on It’s a Small World.



I don’t ride this often. In fact, during our last trip my great nieces pulled me on this ride and my daughter face timed her dad which he promptly hung up as soon as he heard the song. LOL

When DD was five, during our very first trip, she rode this no few than 5 times in the course of a week. He was done with the ‘creepy’ dolls.

When I taught 8th Grade, we read Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson. (As a Disney Adult, why would I NOT take advantage of this situation and read a great book based in Disney to teach plot elements in a narrative text???). If you’ve read this book and know what happens on IASW…you would feel the same way I NOW feel on this ride. Constantly waiting for the dolls to come alive and attack the boats. No worries, I know the trick to win the battle: A smile.

Anyway…I couldn’t help but take a few pics of my favorite scenes.





I love her so much!! It’s the wink that’s sometime stuck in place that stays with me.


My first year teaching, a teacher on our team was from Hawaii and this always make me think of her.







On our way out, we took a stroll over to the best restrooms in all of Disney…The Tangled Bathrooms! (The Gaston area restrooms are pretty great too.)


I mean…how can you beat this theming!


And a hidden Pascal!

We had ridden two sweet rides, the park had just opened, and we were taking our time today.

Continued in next post…

 

[amyjoq]

Continued from previous post…

We thought our best bet this morning would be to exit Fantasyland and head over to Tomorrowland for a relaxing ride on the People Mover.


Feet up. Feeling the breeze and looking down into the shops as we rode. My new Loungefly I picked up earlier in the week.


Nice view of Tron.

Once we got off of the mover of the people, we headed over to another Walt classic:


Near the end of the first scene, the seats stopped moving…but by the time the seats started up again and we stopped in the second scene, we were all caught up and didn’t miss a beat.

How can you not love this?

Several hidden Mickeys.


Once we exited the moving seats, we headed straight for a gift shop I spied something for my DD from the People Mover. A sweet Stitch tote bag she would love.
Purchase made, we headed back towards the castle and a store, in all of my 5 trips, I had never step foot in:




No purchases were made but I did enjoy the theming..it was as if someone was watching me the whole time.

We did what I am known to do and we headed back for the opposite side of the park. Not any real destination in mind, we were just walking and seeing if there were anything we wanted to do.

Once more by the best restrooms on Disney property:


We ended up in Liberty Square in the Christmas shop where a puchase was made and then it was snack time:


Another first for me and I highly recommend. Hit the spot and gave us the right about of protein to carry on. Purchased just before the Haunted Mansion, we sat down in the Liberty Square Market and people watched. We were very impressed by a larger family tearing up some turkey legs - with all the kids and the turkey being passed around, the table had seen better days. The dad stayed behind, cleaned everything up for the next family. Good Disney manners right there.

Up next… a break and a new dining experience.

 

[kclark9830]

I have never ever noticed the giant peeking through the roof in that shop! Now I have to go see it!

 

[amyjoq]

I have never ever noticed the giant peeking through the roof in that shop! Now I have to go see it!

I knew it was there our first trip back in 2008…but at that time my husband was not a shopper and we had a plan to follow (I was a strict plan follower back then) and we just never went in. I forgot about it till this trip and was looking through someone else’s trip report. LOL

 

[amyjoq]

Day 4 Part 4 : A Break…And more Disney Transportation!

We left Magic Kingdom via bus to Pop Century. We had one goal with two very sweet twin girls in mind. We went to the gift shop and purchases two Christmas gifts which required all four hands to carry. When it is for your Great Nieces and your sisters granddaughters…you lend a couple hands.

We awkwardly carried these back to Caribbean Beach via the Skyline, jumped off at the station closest to Riviera and walked to our room.

When we opened the door…you could tell someone had been in our room. All the lights were on and the TV was on.

If you recall, when we entered our room back on Monday, the TV displayed this:

Which I found ODD because I was expecting the usual welcome screen with our names on it. We didn’t complain, we had a ground floor King room closes to Riviera just as requested so we carried on.

Today we walked in to this:

THERE IT IS!!! Our personalized screen with the resort mage and all the Disney magic.
There was also a new remote and we had to push back the cabinet to its original location. We determined a new TV had been installed and connections corrected.

All Magic back in place, we turned off all the lights, kicked off our shoes and laid down for about 45 min or so. Our week was definitely catching up with us…we are no longer spring chickens.

Fully rested and changed, we headed back out to Magic Kingdom. We had a new sit down reservation to get to.

I had reserved a late afternoon lunch / early dinner at Tony’s Restaurante for 2:45 - just before the parade. We were seated in the sunroom where we could see the parade!



I have a milk allergy and I did not want to mess with an already successful allergy free week so I did make sure they were aware of my situation. I received my own allergy friendly menu and ordered the spaghetti with turkey meat balls…delish! I did not feel like I was missing out on anything. This was perfection.


After a few minutes, the parade started to roll by:

This is a zoomed in view - there was one table between us and the window. It was awesome viewing each of the floats as we ate. I attempted to get out on the porch but our reservation needed to be earlier…all those seats were full. Next time…

After we ate, we strolled over to the gift shop then my sister asked if we wanted to ride in one of the cars down Main St…YES! Yes, we do! One happened to be loading and we got the seat right behind the driver.


This was so much fun! A rider on top followed directions very well and spied special buttons - yelling from the top and we all followed suit. It was fun to see the surprise on the faces that someone on the bus knew their celebration!


Coming up on the hub.



Unfortunately, the show was getting ready to start so the car was parked for a while. We chose to get off and take a walk.

Another Disney Transportation!

Our walk led us to Tomorrowland where we spied this guy:


Up next…To Infinity and Beyond!

 

[amyjoq]

Day 4 Part 5…or maybe it’s just 4 and I jumped ahead on the last update but whose counting…

When we left off, we had added yet another Disney Transportation option to our list and had headed into Tomorrowland. We had a galaxy to defend.



The line wasn’t too bad, under 45 minutes so wait we did.



I think we got pretty close

Once again…not our fault. Completely game malfunction related…
That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Upon exiting, we walked back over to the main hub, someone…me…wanted to ride the train around the park. But first, another walk through the shops just in case…

Essential Park Castle Photos:


My favorite of the whole trip:


Two sisters enjoying all the magic:

(Side note - not sure why my arm is sticking out in an awkward position…moving on)

Making our way through it all, soaking in the AC and the smells of Main Street, we watched some confectionary magic in motion.


How cute is this one?


Walking back up Main Street we spied yet another parade:


Continued in next post…

 

[amyjoq]

Continued from previous post…

One thing I wanted to do before we left was ride the train.
I took this picture to show my daughter at home that yes, there are cowboy hats at Disney World. (She’s quite the cowgirl herself and I know someone will be taking this picture of her in our future.)



We got on the train at Frontierland and from the loading dock, there is an ample view of the winding line for Tiana’s Bayou. While we had packed our poncho’s just in case, there was no way we were waiting in that line. There is always next time.

Which I believe is the same sentiment I gave to Splash Mountain every time we walked past the line because I was the only one who wanted to ride.

You’re read it here…NEXT time…

We rode all the way around the park and exited at…you guessed it… Frontierland.
We walked through Tiana’s Bayou General Store which had some really cute details in the theming.





I found this display to be really cute!

We left the bayou and headed down the bend towards Adventureland for a much needed snack:

Yes please! Dairy free and so refreshing!

We sat on the bench along the outside of Aladdin's Carpet Ride, enjoyed our Dole Whips and watched all the people. It wasn’t terribly busy, we waited in line maybe 15 minutes for our treats and it wasn’t hard to find somewhere to sit.

We had both experienced fireworks on Main Street multiple times, it had been a long week, and we were ready to rest. I took the picture above at 6:26pm.
We made a decision neither of us regretted later…we decided to leave Magic Kingdom without viewing the fireworks…

We DID, however, add one final Disney Transportation option to our list and could officially wear the transportation t-shirt from Mouse Marketplace confidently as we had now officially rode every mode of transportation represented on that shirt at one point during our visits - mostly this visit. Was said shirt a motivator…maybe…
Have I purchased said shirt yet…no. BUT it is on the list for the next trip.

More Castle pics on the way out.




We headed back down Main Street and while I used the Lyft app for the very first time successfully - I had attempted this two trips ago and failed miserably - Sheri ran into a shop and purchased one more thing.

We exited the park and had the shorted walk to our pick up area…Disney Minnie Vans!

Dreams do come true at Disney!


Even through we were leaving MK and ending our week at Disney, we were smiling.

What a great experience! Our driver was waiting for us, was gracious and took several photos and gave the appropriate amount of relatable conversation on the way back to our resort. He dropped us off at our building rather than at the front entrance, which was greatly appreciated!

Up next: Our final evening at Disney and wrap it all up.

 

[kclark9830]

I have always wanted to ride the cars on Main Street! Maybe when we're there in a couple weeks

 

[amyjoq]

I have always wanted to ride the cars on Main Street! Maybe when we're there in a couple weeks

It is a wonderful experience! I only regret not waiting to ride back down Main Street and getting a seat on top. 10/10 Highly Recommend!

 

[amyjoq]

I forgot one tiny detail of a meal one evening. I can’t remember which night it was, may have been after our DVC meeting, but I believe we took the bus from Disney Springs over to Riviera and got dinner at their quick service: Primo Piatto.

Y’all…SO GOOD!

We chose to share a flat bread pizza, the Pepperoni Pizza. They also have a Margherita Pizza. $13.29 and easily shareable between 2 people. Made as you order - so, so good!
Will be doing this again on our next trip!

Oh no! I think this is the end…

We rode our final Disney Transportation back to Caribbean Beach, took one more stroll through the gift shop…just in case we missed a necessary purchase…and went back to our room Disney exhausted! What a great feeling!

Nothing exciting happened this evening, we packed (boo!) and watched some TV before setting alarms for the next morning.

We left early, drove slow through the parking lot, and off Disney property.

We generally go through Atlanta and Nashville to go home, but we decided to take a different route in order to visit with a cousin in Memphis, TN.

Our view through Alabama:


Disney Transportation Round Up:

Day 1:
Bus to Disney Springs
Bus to Caribbean Beach
Skyline to Epcot
Monorail to Grand Floridian
Boat to Magic Kingdom
Bus to Caribbean Beach

Day 2:
Bus to Animal Kingdom
Bus to Caribbean Beach
Skyline to Art of Animation
Skyline to Hollywood Studios
Skyline to Caribbean Beach

Day 3:
Skyline to Epcot
Skyline to Caribbean Beach
DVC Van to Polynesian
DVC Van to French Quarter
Boat to Disney Springs
Bus to Caribbean Beach

Day 4:
Bus to Magic Kingdom
Bus to Caribbean Beach
Bus to Magic Kingdom
Trolley Bus down Main Street
Minnie Van to Caribbean Beach

That’s EIGHT different Disney modes of Transportation!
Whew…let’s do it again!

And we will…in February for my daughter’s college graduation gift.
She’s always wanted to explore Festival of the Arts so if you see me wondering around alone in February…no worries, my DD is still looking

Thank you for following along!
I look forward to sharing more memories with you real soon!

 

[amyjoq]

If you enjoyed reading this trip report, and want to fall down the rabbit hole of my previous reports, you can find the links below:

‘Beignets All Day!’ May Trip Report 2023
Back…To the other side of the park. A March 2020 TR
**We went in 2015…guess I didn’t write a report???**
Lurker comes out of hiding…And write a Trip Report!

 

[cassidy57]

What a fun trip. I really enjoyed reading and I hope you have a future trip coming up to share on the disboards.