karajeboo
DISmom by land and by sea!
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2007
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Karas Quickie Trippie Pirate & Princess Party 
, Saturday, March 1, 2008
This was a quick trip, planned around the Pirate & Princess Party. We have a grand gathering experience planned for the first week in May with DHs family, so we just wanted a nice weekend getaway with our family, and we wanted to take advantage of the P&PP before it was gone.
The Resort Port Orleans Riverside
Arrived Friday around 6pm and checked into Port Orleans Riverside. Stayed in Acadian House in Magnolia Bend section. Nice room, considerably larger than Pop, where we stayed in 2006 and also are booked for May of this year. Great location though and we had an end room (every time we have stayed at a WDW resort we have had an end room nice!!!).
Took the
to DTD Friday night and hit World of Disney even a quick weekend trip deserves some shopping! We had hoped to catch a bite to eat, but the wait times were outrageous! 
Two hours for Captain Jacks, and we didnt even check at Rainforest Café! Even Earl of Sandwich was wall to wall! So after about an hour at DTD we hopped back in the for a ½ hour ride back to the resort.
The Dining Boatwrights Dining Hall
Back at the resort, we were glad we chose a moderate resort that had a casual table service restaurant and the menu at Boatwrights looked promising. There was only a 10 minute wait so we stepped into the River Roost lounge and ordered a couple of drinks. Once seated, I ordered the Spinach Salad - Made with grape tomatoes, bacon-herb vinaigrette, roasted beets, mushrooms, and goat cheese. - $5.99, followed by the Grilled Pork Chop - Served with maque choux and apple butter. - $20.99. First of all, the salad was HUGE!!! Nothing exciting to report, but the entrée came before I was even ½ done with the salad. That always irks me for some reason. Ive been avoiding this part because I can honestly say that the pork chop was horrendous! It was dry, overcooked, and tasted like they completely forgot the seasoning!!! The maque choux was tasty, but that was it. I couldnt even eat ½ of my meal. DH ordered the Romaine Salad - Made with baby romaine, croutons, asiago cheese, and prosciutto served with our House dressing. - $6.49 and the Slow-roasted Prime Rib - Served with three cheese hash brown potatoes and cabernet sauce. - $21.99. Again, the salad was huge. He ordered his prime rib medium rare, but it came out only slightly pink, probably closer to medium well. Were not the type to send our food back, be we probably should have during this meal. In fact, we both nibbled off DDs plate of Beef & Macaroni - Made with marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella served with veggies and fruit salad. Includes choice of 1% milk, bottled water or juice. French fries and soft drinks available upon request. - $7.59.
The service was slow, at best, and our server had very little personality, let alone any Disney magic. Our bill came to around $70 + 15% tip (we hate to tip less than 20% but the service was not even close to that level!) so it came out to right around $80, then the drinks at the bar, so we spent close to $100 on a meal that was not even close to an Applebees in terms of quality or service, yet we spent about double what that Applebees meal would have cost. I have no real problem with Disney prices, because I know that Im paying for the convenience of not having to leave Disney property, and there is a great selection of dining options. However, I dont expect to pay more and get less, and this was FAR less than I would have expected from Disney.
Keep in mind that we were only in Disney this trip for the Pirate & Princess Party, so we didnt even consider the Dining Plan for such a quick trip. There is NO way I would have chosen this for a dining plan table service meal.
The funny thing is that DH gets so swept up in the pixie dust, that he never complains about money while were there, in fact we both just kind of laughed it off, and headed to the food court to get something overly sweet and bad for us at the Riverside Mill (food court) bakery.
That was it for us for the night, even though we only had a 2 ½ hr drive in from Jacksonville. We werent used to relaxing while in Disney, so we decided to turn in early at around 10pm!
The Down Time
For the first time ever, we did not request a wake up call while at Disney. We slept in until around 7am on Saturday morning! Around 10am we headed off property , something we have never done on a Disney vacation, but DHs cousin is an executive for (dare I say it???) 
Universal Studios, so we were picking up a VIP pass to use on Sunday. I almost felt like I was being unfaithful and had to sneak the pass back onto Disney property lol!
We ate lunch in the food court and then headed out to the pool at Ole Man Island. It was surprisingly busy, although it was a beautiful day, around 75 and sunny. DD swam and played until 2pm when we headed back to the room to rest and then get ready for the Pirate and Princess Party, our only reason for coming to Disney this weekend!
The Park Magic Kingdom Pirate & Princess Party
I made matching t-shirts for our family for the party, although DD6 opted to dress as Belle. So once dressed we hopped the bus and got to the park around 3:50pm, knowing we could enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4pm with our P&PP tickets. Entry was made easy by the separate entrance for the P&PP goers. I was surprised how "crowded" MK was! We have never been to WDW this time of year, but since it was after Presidents Day and before Spring Breaks begin, we thought it would be pretty quiet. Guess we were wrong!
Without giving a play by play of the evening, let me just sum it up this way. After 7pm, we literally walked on to every attraction Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Its a Small World (is there EVER a line for this???).
After reading the DIS, I knew to get in line early to meet Capt Jack, and I wanted to take advantage of all the P&PP offered, but we all got sucked into the Magic Kingdom overall, since we hadnt been in 2 years. Looking back, I wish we would have just focused on the special event, and realized that we are going to be back at WDW for a week in May, and we could enjoy the park overall at that time. So we ended up doing a lot of backtracking, trying to meet characters, see the parade, and eat. Yes, we should have eaten around 5:00 or so, but we were trying to get acclimated and Im embarrassed to say we basically wasted a lot of time. This part kills me since Im such a planner! So we ended up eating around 7:30 at Pecos Bills.
We got a great spot for the parade right near the beginning and then zoomed right over to meet Capt Jack after the parade and waited about 15 minutes!
I just wish we had planned this earlier so that we werent trying to find the best time to meet him. And let me just say that he was WORTH meeting hubba hubba!
After we saw Capt Jack, we were able to catch a couple of other characters including Jasmine, and Pocahontas and John Smith. Meeko was missing according to the CM. We got back in line for him because he was supposed to replace Pocahontas and John Smith, but they finally reported that he was lost in the forest. John Smith told me, under his breath, that he thought Meeko was off digging in the garbage -
.So there was more time wasted. It seemed that every character meet line we got into, the characters either took a break right before we got there (Capt Hook and Smee) or the characters were swapping places. We missed Genie and Abu by one person in front of us, and they were replaced by Jasmine (who is much easier to find on any given day). The line to meet Ariel at 11:00pm was about 45 minutes long! We didnt go into Toontown and we never saw the other princesses, but to be fair we werent in Fantasyland until after fireworks - DD just wanted to meet the princes this trip and that was a flop.
And of course the line for the Fab 5 was about 45 minutes long too, at 10:45pm! I hate that we didnt get pics with them dressed in their pirate and princess garb!
OK, to sum it up
Id do it again in a heartbeat but Id do it differently!
Advice: Dont treat the Pirate and Princess Party as you would any trip to the park. Take advantage of those things that are ONLY offered at the special event party.
Do the normal park things before the party officially begins at 7pm. Eat before the party begins. Avoid the treasure hunt it was either mardi gras beads or paper Burger King hats.
Dont plan on the crowds thinning out as the night goes on. They may or may not, depending on when you go. The park was just as crowded at 11pm as it was at 8pm (or so it seemed!). But crowded just means longer waits for the characters, the attractions all were walk-ons. So if the line to meet your favorite character is 20 minutes at 8:00, odds are it will be at least that at 11:00, so jump on it!
Do NOT miss the parade OR the fireworks!!! And stand in front of the castle for fireworks! Lots of surprises there! Hit your favorite character IMMEDIATELY after the parade or fireworks and the line should be fairly short.
Dress up! DH and I wore matching t-shirts with a P&PP design and DD6 wore a princess gown. It was a lot of fun and she got lots of attention, too!
, Saturday, March 1, 2008This was a quick trip, planned around the Pirate & Princess Party. We have a grand gathering experience planned for the first week in May with DHs family, so we just wanted a nice weekend getaway with our family, and we wanted to take advantage of the P&PP before it was gone.
The Resort Port Orleans Riverside
Arrived Friday around 6pm and checked into Port Orleans Riverside. Stayed in Acadian House in Magnolia Bend section. Nice room, considerably larger than Pop, where we stayed in 2006 and also are booked for May of this year. Great location though and we had an end room (every time we have stayed at a WDW resort we have had an end room nice!!!).
Took the
to DTD Friday night and hit World of Disney even a quick weekend trip deserves some shopping! We had hoped to catch a bite to eat, but the wait times were outrageous! Two hours for Captain Jacks, and we didnt even check at Rainforest Café! Even Earl of Sandwich was wall to wall! So after about an hour at DTD we hopped back in the for a ½ hour ride back to the resort. The Dining Boatwrights Dining Hall
Back at the resort, we were glad we chose a moderate resort that had a casual table service restaurant and the menu at Boatwrights looked promising. There was only a 10 minute wait so we stepped into the River Roost lounge and ordered a couple of drinks. Once seated, I ordered the Spinach Salad - Made with grape tomatoes, bacon-herb vinaigrette, roasted beets, mushrooms, and goat cheese. - $5.99, followed by the Grilled Pork Chop - Served with maque choux and apple butter. - $20.99. First of all, the salad was HUGE!!! Nothing exciting to report, but the entrée came before I was even ½ done with the salad. That always irks me for some reason. Ive been avoiding this part because I can honestly say that the pork chop was horrendous! It was dry, overcooked, and tasted like they completely forgot the seasoning!!! The maque choux was tasty, but that was it. I couldnt even eat ½ of my meal. DH ordered the Romaine Salad - Made with baby romaine, croutons, asiago cheese, and prosciutto served with our House dressing. - $6.49 and the Slow-roasted Prime Rib - Served with three cheese hash brown potatoes and cabernet sauce. - $21.99. Again, the salad was huge. He ordered his prime rib medium rare, but it came out only slightly pink, probably closer to medium well. Were not the type to send our food back, be we probably should have during this meal. In fact, we both nibbled off DDs plate of Beef & Macaroni - Made with marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella served with veggies and fruit salad. Includes choice of 1% milk, bottled water or juice. French fries and soft drinks available upon request. - $7.59.
The service was slow, at best, and our server had very little personality, let alone any Disney magic. Our bill came to around $70 + 15% tip (we hate to tip less than 20% but the service was not even close to that level!) so it came out to right around $80, then the drinks at the bar, so we spent close to $100 on a meal that was not even close to an Applebees in terms of quality or service, yet we spent about double what that Applebees meal would have cost. I have no real problem with Disney prices, because I know that Im paying for the convenience of not having to leave Disney property, and there is a great selection of dining options. However, I dont expect to pay more and get less, and this was FAR less than I would have expected from Disney.
Keep in mind that we were only in Disney this trip for the Pirate & Princess Party, so we didnt even consider the Dining Plan for such a quick trip. There is NO way I would have chosen this for a dining plan table service meal.
The funny thing is that DH gets so swept up in the pixie dust, that he never complains about money while were there, in fact we both just kind of laughed it off, and headed to the food court to get something overly sweet and bad for us at the Riverside Mill (food court) bakery.
That was it for us for the night, even though we only had a 2 ½ hr drive in from Jacksonville. We werent used to relaxing while in Disney, so we decided to turn in early at around 10pm!
The Down Time
For the first time ever, we did not request a wake up call while at Disney. We slept in until around 7am on Saturday morning! Around 10am we headed off property
, something we have never done on a Disney vacation, but DHs cousin is an executive for (dare I say it???) Universal Studios, so we were picking up a VIP pass to use on Sunday. I almost felt like I was being unfaithful and had to sneak the pass back onto Disney property lol!We ate lunch in the food court and then headed out to the pool at Ole Man Island. It was surprisingly busy, although it was a beautiful day, around 75 and sunny. DD swam and played until 2pm when we headed back to the room to rest and then get ready for the Pirate and Princess Party, our only reason for coming to Disney this weekend!
The Park Magic Kingdom Pirate & Princess Party
I made matching t-shirts for our family for the party, although DD6 opted to dress as Belle. So once dressed we hopped the bus and got to the park around 3:50pm, knowing we could enter Magic Kingdom as early as 4pm with our P&PP tickets. Entry was made easy by the separate entrance for the P&PP goers. I was surprised how "crowded" MK was! We have never been to WDW this time of year, but since it was after Presidents Day and before Spring Breaks begin, we thought it would be pretty quiet. Guess we were wrong!
Without giving a play by play of the evening, let me just sum it up this way. After 7pm, we literally walked on to every attraction Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Its a Small World (is there EVER a line for this???).
After reading the DIS, I knew to get in line early to meet Capt Jack, and I wanted to take advantage of all the P&PP offered, but we all got sucked into the Magic Kingdom overall, since we hadnt been in 2 years. Looking back, I wish we would have just focused on the special event, and realized that we are going to be back at WDW for a week in May, and we could enjoy the park overall at that time. So we ended up doing a lot of backtracking, trying to meet characters, see the parade, and eat. Yes, we should have eaten around 5:00 or so, but we were trying to get acclimated and Im embarrassed to say we basically wasted a lot of time. This part kills me since Im such a planner! So we ended up eating around 7:30 at Pecos Bills.
We got a great spot for the parade right near the beginning and then zoomed right over to meet Capt Jack after the parade and waited about 15 minutes!
I just wish we had planned this earlier so that we werent trying to find the best time to meet him. And let me just say that he was WORTH meeting hubba hubba!
After we saw Capt Jack, we were able to catch a couple of other characters including Jasmine, and Pocahontas and John Smith. Meeko was missing according to the CM. We got back in line for him because he was supposed to replace Pocahontas and John Smith, but they finally reported that he was lost in the forest. John Smith told me, under his breath, that he thought Meeko was off digging in the garbage -
.So there was more time wasted. It seemed that every character meet line we got into, the characters either took a break right before we got there (Capt Hook and Smee) or the characters were swapping places. We missed Genie and Abu by one person in front of us, and they were replaced by Jasmine (who is much easier to find on any given day). The line to meet Ariel at 11:00pm was about 45 minutes long! We didnt go into Toontown and we never saw the other princesses, but to be fair we werent in Fantasyland until after fireworks - DD just wanted to meet the princes this trip and that was a flop. And of course the line for the Fab 5 was about 45 minutes long too, at 10:45pm! I hate that we didnt get pics with them dressed in their pirate and princess garb!
OK, to sum it up
Id do it again in a heartbeat but Id do it differently!
Advice: Dont treat the Pirate and Princess Party as you would any trip to the park. Take advantage of those things that are ONLY offered at the special event party.
Do the normal park things before the party officially begins at 7pm. Eat before the party begins. Avoid the treasure hunt it was either mardi gras beads or paper Burger King hats.
Dont plan on the crowds thinning out as the night goes on. They may or may not, depending on when you go. The park was just as crowded at 11pm as it was at 8pm (or so it seemed!). But crowded just means longer waits for the characters, the attractions all were walk-ons. So if the line to meet your favorite character is 20 minutes at 8:00, odds are it will be at least that at 11:00, so jump on it!
Do NOT miss the parade OR the fireworks!!! And stand in front of the castle for fireworks! Lots of surprises there! Hit your favorite character IMMEDIATELY after the parade or fireworks and the line should be fairly short.
Dress up! DH and I wore matching t-shirts with a P&PP design and DD6 wore a princess gown. It was a lot of fun and she got lots of attention, too!
Great summary - to the point.
)...
Friday 11th = P&PP night!!!!
