Trip Report - Port Orleans French Quarter and Vistana - May 5, 2010 - May 15, 2010

[Noreen411]

WHO ARE WE?

Noreen – 41 years old; Senior Vice President at an Investment Banking Firm in New York City. I will be the author of the report.

Paul – my husband; 41years old; Former small Business Owner. Paul is currently a semi pro poker player.

Paul and I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and after getting married moved to Northern New Jersey.

Guest Appearances:
Kim – friend that I used to work with – now a stay at home mom to Kathryn
David – Kim’s husband, works in reinsurance
Kathryn – Kim and David’s daughter

PLANNING

Lodging
Paul and I have owned a timeshare near Disney World at Vistana for over 10 years. We love going to Disney and go at least once a year. Our timeshare can be used as a regular week in the type of villa we own (2 bedroom 2 bathroom) or we can use the points to stay for longer in a smaller 1 bedroom unit or multiple trips. It is pretty flexible. Depending on our plans and if we invite anyone to join us determines the type of villa we would book.

During our September 2009 trip we bought annual passes to Disney World. Wanting to get as much value out of them as we can, we knew we wanted to squeeze in a few Disney World trips in 2010.

We spent 11 nights at Disney World in February 2010 staying at Pop Century with a great annual pass rate.

We have another trip booked for fall 2010 for a week in our timeshare and then a week on a cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas.

On Thursday 7/23/09 I called Disney Reservations and booked 10 nights at Port Orleans French Quarter for our May 2010 trip.

Since the 2010 rates are not out yet, we were charged the highest rack rate for 2009. The cast member, Jamison said the 2010 rates will probably be out in August and adjusted.

I booked Wednesday 5/5/10 through Saturday 5/15/10 in a standard room at Port Orleans French Quarter for $205 a night. I left one night’s deposit. I forgot to write down the grand total but it was approximately $2175.

During the weekend of August 1, 2009 I received an email from Disney with the new rates and new total for my stay. The weekdays were $170 a night and the weekends were $185 a night. I forgot to write down my new total but it was approximately $1,915.

I called Disney on Sunday 8/2/09 to see about applying either an Annual Pass (AP) discount or the Automobile Club (AAA) discount. The first person I spoke with said those rates won’t be available for about a month. I called back and spoke with someone who was able to apply the AAA discount (AP rates aren’t out yet) which brought my new total down to $1,668.65. The weekday rate is now $144.50 and the weekend rate is now $157.25. These are the pre-tax rates.

I called Disney on Friday 1/8/10 to see about applying an Annual Pass (AP) discount as I saw them available on one of the websites I check. I called and my new total is $1,177.86. The weekday rate is now $102 and the weekend rate is now $111. These are pre-tax daily rates

On Monday 2/22/10 I called Vistana to book a portion of the stay at our timeshare. We have enough points left (after booking a week in a large one bedroom for fall 2010) to spend 4 nights in a large 1 bedroom villa so will end the trip there and will shorten the Disney hotel portion of the trip. I spoke to Woody and was able to book it. We will stay from Tuesday May 11 – Saturday May 15 at Vistana.

On Monday 3/8/10 I called Disney to change my reservation to check out on 5/11 (when we will check into Vistana.) My new total for the Disney hotel is $708.74

So our final resort plans are as follows:
Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter - Wednesday 5/5/10 – Tuesday 5/11/10
Vistana Tuesday 5/11/10 – Saturday 5/15/10

On Friday 4/30/10 I called Disney to add the dining plan to my reservation. I spoke with Jadlyn. She needed to convert it to a package and first told me I needed to add park tickets. I explained that I was an annual passholder and should be able to just add dining. She figured out how to do it. She needed to cancel my original reservation and make a new one with the Dining Plan. My new total is $1,229.98 which was paid in full. The deposit from my original reservation will be refunded to my credit card.

Transportation
I was checking the flight prices and noticed that the flight down was inexpensive while the flight home was more than I expected. On Tuesday 2/23/10, I booked one way tickets down and will book the flights home later when the prices come down. We are flying on JetBlue Flight #525 on Wednesday 5/5/10 leaving Newark at 2pm and arriving in Orlando at 4:41pm. The flight down was $89 each. I used $59.60 in JetBlue credit that I had from prior flight price drops so even though the total for this segment was $199.40, after the JetBlue credit, I paid $139.80

On Wednesday 2/24/10 I was just about to leave work and thought I would check the price of the flight home before I left. I was pleasantly surprised to see the flight listed for $89. So I went through the process of trying to book it online. When I got to the payment options, I wanted to apply a $100 gift card I had but the website said it cannot do that at this time and I needed to call. I was on hold for ½ hour, and then they had to transfer me to someone else where I waited another 15 minutes. Finally, I spoke with someone who was able to process it. It took a while. Our total after tax was $199.40, my $100 gift card was applied, so $99.40 was charged to my credit card. It would have been much easier if I could have just done this myself online, but our flights are now all booked.

On Tuesday 3/23/10 my friend Kim emailed me to say that the price for our flight down has dropped to $74. I called JetBlue expecting the quick turnaround I usually get for credits for price drops. Instead I was on hold for 25 minutes, and then had a person who was very nice but seemed very confused about doing this. It took about 20 minutes on the phone with her and I’m hoping she did this correctly but I have my doubts. I should have a credit of $30 with Jet Blue.

I booked a midsize rental car with Alamo for about $235 using the Disney Annual pass discount code on 2/25/10

Attractions
We planned to hit our favorite attractions. There isn’t anything new that has opened since our last trip a few months ago in February 2010. The Flower and Garden festival will be going on this trip so we’ll make sure to take pictures of some of the topiaries. We’re hoping to be able to ride Rip Ride Rocket at Universal since in February it was either down or had ridiculously long waits. We’re also hoping there are some sneak previews for the Harry Potter section of Universal Island’s of Adventure. I don’t expect to be able to see it this trip since the official opening is mid June.

Up Next - The Trip...

 

[Noreen411]

The week before our trip:
We went to Brooklyn, NY to celebrate Mother’s Day on Saturday May 1 since we will be in Disney World on actual Mother’s Day. Paul started to feel a cold coming on so hopefully he’ll be better before we leave. Paul gave me his cold and I started feeling sick by Sunday May 2. I did most of the packing on Sunday May 2.

The day before our trip – Tuesday 5/4/10
If we weren’t leaving for Disney the next day, I would have worked from home. I still felt pretty sick but had a lot to wrap up before we leave. I made it through the day and did not stay late like I usually end up doing the day before vacation.

When I got home we just watched some TV. Knowing that our flight isn’t until the afternoon I knew I had the morning to finish the last of the packing.

I have been taking all sorts of medicine to try to get better as soon as possible – Sudafed, Nyquil, Dayquil – all over the counter stuff.

It's almost time to go to Disney World...

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 5/5/10 – Fly to Florida
I feel a bit better than I have been the last few days but still not 100% better.

I finished the last of the packing this morning. I took Kiki (our dog) for a walk and finished getting ready.

We purposely booked the afternoon flight to avoid rush hour traffic going to the airport but I was ready and anxious to go. I ended up logging onto my remote access and answering a few work emails while waiting for it to be time to go.

Paul made us a very cute breakfast. He made bacon, waffles, and eggs. These were not normal eggs. These were shaped like Mickey Mouse heads. I was so impressed. They were basically omelet style but shaped cute. I didn’t realize we had a Mickey head shaped thing probably meant to make pancakes and he dug it out to make us a cute breakfast.

We were planning to leave by 11:30 or so but ended up not leaving until 12. We made a pitstop at a bagel store to pick up a sandwich for the plane. With my cold I have not had much appetite so we got one sandwich and can share it if I get hungry.

We parked the car at Corporate Park, an off airport (Newark airport) long term parking lot that we have used before. We really like them – they are prompt and professional. We were quickly in their van and dropped off at the Jet Blue terminal. There was a choice of either curbside check in or going in to the counter. Neither was crowded so it was just our choice. In the past we have done the curbside and tipped the porters. They now have a sign that they charge $2 per bag for curbside check in plus any gratuity you want to give. It’s only $2 a bag but it seems kind of silly to charge for that so we rolled our bag a few feet through the door and checked in at the counter. I already checked in online so it was pretty quick.

There was a big line to go through security but it moved quickly. By the time we made it through security and to our gate, we had enough time to buy a bottle of water and a bottle of soda for the plane and it was time to board.

The flight was uneventful. Paul watched a movie on the laptop and I started reading the final book in the Twilight series – Breaking Dawn. It’s a pretty big hardcover book. It was so engaging that the flight just flew by. When they came by with beverages and snacks Paul gave me ¼ of the sandwich so I ate that.

We landed on time and went to the luggage carousel to pick up our bags. To our surprise as we got there we saw the first bag coming by so grabbed it. Just a minute or two later the second bag came out. We were surprised how quickly they came out.

We rolled the bags down the escalator and used the Alamo check in kiosk to sign in for our rental car that I reserved in advance. These kiosks are very convenient. I don’t know why more people don’t utilize them.

We grabbed a luggage cart and rolled our bags across the street to the garage to pick out our car. I left that selection up to Paul. I like that Alamo lets you choose your own car from the selection of the car class you reserved rather than the luck of the draw as to what you end up with. It’s just a car to get us around on vacation so as long as it goes and has air conditioning I’m happy. When we were younger and drove cheap jalopy cars at home, we used to always rent nice fancy cars on vacation. Now we drive nice cars at home so I’m happy to just have a basic car on vacation. He picked one and we started putting the luggage in but then he saw a different one he liked better so we moved our stuff over there. We ended up with a gold colored Dodge Avenger (I think). The trunk was a decent size and our two big pieces of luggage as well as our two rolling carry on bags fit in there.

As we were leaving the airport Paul realized he left his sunglasses in the first car so back in we went. Luckily the first car was still there so I grabbed his sunglasses and we were finally on our way.

One odd effect from still having a cold is that my ears didn’t pop on the plane and I can’t hear out of my right ear. Everything sounds like it is echoing.

We found Port Orleans French Quarter easily and I went into the lobby to check in. It was probably 5:30pm by now. There was no one on line and I was taken care of immediately. I went to the online check in area since I already did the online check in. My packet was ready. The cast member must have been new even though he didn’t have an “earning my ears” pin since he didn’t really give me any information just handed me my package and asked if I needed a parking pass for the car. I asked him about the package that I was supposed to receive since when I added the dining plan it became a package and they had some kind of packet that would be waiting for me. He went to get it. It was pre-packed with my name on it and the check in date. I’m surprised he didn’t already have it with my check in package. He asked if we had the dining plan so I said yes and looked at the room card which said DDP on it. So then he went to get me a brochure on the dining plan. He was pleasant but I was surprised that he wasn’t more on top of things since it wasn’t crowded.

We drove over to our room – 7330 and brought the luggage upstairs. We changed our shoes and put on sandals. Normally I like to unpack and get settled but we decided to do that later. We drove over to the main area of the resort and wandered around the shop, the food court, the pool area, etc – just looking around. We got our Refillable Mugs and I was happy to see they had the Minute Maid Light Pomegranate Lemonade in the dispenser. I must have filled my mug three times with it. All of the medicine I’ve been taking has made me so thirsty. I can’t find this Pomegranate Lemonade anywhere other than Disney World. Paul has made his version of it at home by combining Minute Maid Lemonade and Pomegranate juice.

We drove over to the Contemporary for dinner at the Wave and our first time using the dining plan. We self parked and walked in. Our reservation was for 8pm and we checked in about 7:45. We were given a pager and waited maybe 10 minutes before we were seated.

We sat and waited. And waited. And waited. The host that brought us to the table gave us menus so we already decided what we wanted to order. I don’t think the waiter realized that we were there. He happened to walk by with an armful of dirty dishes and practically did a double take when he saw people at the table. He came by with the dirty dishes in his hands, told us what the fish of the day was and asked what beverages we would like and said he would be back. He came back with our beverages and asked if we were ready to order. I told him we were on the dining plan so he told us that our beverage, entrée, and dessert is included. I ordered the pork tenderloin and Paul ordered the Filet of beef.

The waiter brought us a basket with bread and some butter. The bread basket had a roll that was hard, cold, and stale as well as some focaccia bread which was cold. So far this has not been the best first impression of the Wave (it’s our first time here).

Our entrees were served pretty quickly by someone other than our server. Maybe I’m being picky, but we’re a table for two, doesn’t the waiter somehow note which seat gets which dish? The server gave us the wrong dishes. When we told her they were wrong, she said the plates were hot and sort of sighed when she had to change them.

The food itself was good. My Pork was two medallions in a nice sauce. It was accompanied by mashed sweet potatoes and a warm spinach/bacon salad. Paul’s filet came with a potato gratin and a summer ratatouille. The portions were a normal size – not oversized like many places do but enough that you are full after eating.

The waiter came by with the dessert menu. I chose the decadent flavors and Paul chose the creamy indulgence. I like the presentation of these desserts. Instead of one big dessert you get three mini desserts each. We ended up sharing. The cheesecake from the creamy indulgence selection was my favorite.

When the waiter brought our bill he told us to add the gratuity and give him our room card to run it through the dining plan. He mentioned that gratuity is not included and we should just add it in. I told him I wanted to leave the gratuity in cash and he said that was OK too. The bill clearly stated that gratuity is not included as well as gives you the calculations for both 15% and 18%. I’m sure there are people that may not know to tip, but I find it a little pushy when the waiter is pointing it out not once but twice.

Our bill would have been about $77 before gratuity but with the dining plan it was two table service credits (1 credit each).

Despite the lackluster service, we still tipped more than the recommended 18% more because I wanted to leave a round number and I know waiters work hard.

Our overall opinion of the Wave wasn’t that great. The food was pretty good, but the service really was not up to what we expected. I don’t think we would rush back.

We walked around the shops at the Contemporary and I was excited to see a new variety of Disney panties for adults so bought a package. I was given 10% off with my annual pass. I’m glad stores other than World of Disney are now applying the Annual Pass discount.

We wandered through the arcade. We also walked around outside. It was a little on the hot side when we first got to Orlando but it’s very nice out now.

We drove by the Hess Station near the Boardwalk and Paul ran in to get a 24 pack of Dasani water bottles and two 12 packs of cans of soda (one Coke and one Sprite).

We also stopped at Walgreens to get cough medicine and cough drops.

We drove back to Port Orleans and got back around 10:30pm. I unpacked our luggage. I like to put everything away where Paul would be happy living out of a suitcase.

I read some more of my book and finally fell asleep around 1am

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 5/6/10
There is definitely more storage in Port Orleans than we had in Pop Century back in February. The bathroom itself seems smaller than the one in Pop. The water pressure in the shower is not that strong but it’s OK.

We stopped at Sassougala floatworks (the food court) for a quick breakfast. We shared an order of 6 beignets and used our TIW discount paying cash rather than using two snack credits from the dining plan. I had pomegranate lemonade and Paul had coffee.

It’s sunny and very warm out – high 80’s maybe 90 degrees. We wandered the grounds of the resort for a bit.

We drove over to Hollywood Studios, parked, went through the bag check and entered our first theme park of the trip. Our first stop was to get fast passes for Toy Story Mania which were valid from 5:25-6:25 then we headed to the 12 noon showing of American Idol.

We walked through the sound mini attraction where you sit in a booth or play with sound games. It was empty.

We walked right into the Great Movie ride without waiting. We even had the Western side. There were a few kids on the ride crying since they were scared of a couple of the scenes.

Next we walked over to Tower of Terror and walked right on. It’s so nice not having to wait on long lines.

Even Rock N Roller Coaster didn’t have a wait, if you used the single rider line. The regular wait was about 40 minutes. Paul went on the Single Rider Line and I waited for him.

We started thinking about lunch and couldn’t decide what we wanted. Nothing in the park was appealing to us. It was getting late for lunch as well – close to 3pm.

We decided to drive over to Downtown Disney and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express using counter service credits from the dining plan. One disappointment was that they changed the menu and no longer have my favorite BBQ Chicken Quesadilla. We saw someone getting the spaghetti and meatballs which looked good so I ordered that. Paul had the ½ rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes. We both had soda. Our meals came with desserts so I had the crème brulee and Paul had frozen yogurt. I liked that they did not bring out Paul’s frozen yogurt while we were eating for it to melt, but after we were done he just went back to the counter to get it. The place was empty, there were two other parties in there eating. Our food was very good, but there was too much of it. Neither of us finished our dishes. This was a much better choice for counter service than the usual burgers and fries in the park. The cost of our food would have been about $47 but we used our dining plan counter service credits. It’s definitely a good value for a counter service meal using the plan, but if we were paying out of pocket we would not have ordered as much.

We wandered through some of the shops and then drove back to Port Orleans. We stopped at the foodcourt to refill our mugs with Pomegranate lemonade and then stopped back at our room so I could take some cough medicine.

It started raining as we got back so we stayed for a little while rather than rushing right back out.

We headed back out to Hollywood Studios around 6pm when it stopped raining and the sun came out.

Heading to Toy Story Mania we were sidetracked by a short line to take pictures with Goofy near the Great Movie ride so had a picture taken.

We got to Toy Story Mania before 6:30 and went into the fast pass line. Even with fast pass we waited maybe 15 minutes before getting on the ride. The standby wait was still listed as 60 minutes. This is a very cute attraction. I thought there was a new game installed but I wasn’t able to pick it out. As usual Paul scored very well and I had my normal measly score.

We quickly walked over to American Idol to catch the finale show at 7pm. I like that they show the finale when the park closes. The park closed today at 7 at the same time the finale started. It gives you an extra 40 minutes or so in the park. The finale show is the best of the day, not just because you have the best contestants but it moves quicker with more contestants and less filler. I was pleasantly surprised that the theater was not crowded even showing up just at 7pm.

We were not hungry for a big dinner at Flying Fish Café where we had a reservation after our late lunch so called to cancel.

Magic Kingdom was open until 10pm so we were thinking maybe we would head over there.

Paul said even though he wasn’t in the mood for a big dinner, he was in the mood for something light, maybe a sushi roll. So we drove over to the Polynesian to look at the Kona Sushi Bar. They were open until 10 so our original thought was to jump on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom for a while, then get back just before 10 to have sushi.

We stopped at the Wyland Gallery in the lobby and started chatting with the woman working there. She is originally from New Jersey and moved to Florida about 10 years ago.

Our plans to go to the Magic Kingdom quickly changed when we saw the huge line waiting for the monorail at the Polynesian.

Rather than just sitting at the sushi bar, since you can order sushi in the Kona Café restaurant too, I checked to see if they could seat us. They said about a 30 minute wait so we wandered the shops at the resort. We took a stroll outside by the pool and along the beach. I dipped my feet in the pool by the zero entry side. The water felt so nice.

Our buzzer lit up around 8:45 and we headed over to Kona and were quickly seated. We ended up sharing all the food we ordered. We were brought Hawaiian bread with macadamia butter. This was delicious. We had a Volcano Roll which was very artfully presented, an order of wings, and the Shrimp and Scallop entree. Of the three items, the Shrimp and Scallop dish was the weakest. The food was really good. We were too full for dessert so skipped it. We used TIW for this meal paying cash rather than using dining credits.

I’m not sure how I feel about the dining plan after having it for a day. I feel like much of today was spent eating. I also feel it’s a lot of paying attention to what you are ordering and thinking about how to use the snack credits. Using TIW and cash we are more likely to order what we want and not over order. We don’t always need to have dessert with each meal which the dining plan gives you. Our normal dinner order would be to share an appetizer, have our entrees, and share a dessert. The plan gives us each a dessert. It has only been one day on the dining plan so I’ll see how I feel after we switch resorts.

After eating we were stuffed so walked around the resort some more. We stopped in one of the shops and got a rice krispie treat for later to share. This is 1 snack credit. I confirmed with the cashier and then she started chatting with me about where are you from and stuff and next thing you know she rang it up wrong and charged it to the room rather than a snack credit. So I had to follow her to the other area where someone else had to return it, and then re-charge it as a snack credit. This was done pretty quickly, but just shows that you have to pay attention to how the cast members are ringing things up.

Wishes was starting so we watched it from the lobby out the glass windows. It was a very good view and we could faintly here the music that was piped into O’Hana.

We drove over to Walgreens and then CVS looking for a new can of deodorant for Paul. Once he found one he liked we went back to Port Orleans.

I read some more of my book – it’s really good and hard to put down.

We bought a pedometer before the trip to see how many miles a day we walk in Disney. Today we walked over 10 miles and this wasn’t even a marathon day in the parks.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 5/7/10
We went to Denny’s for breakfast today. We don’t have a Denny’s at home and usually try to go there when we’re at Disney. Before we left Denny’s sent me an email with 20% off our check if we go before the end of May so I brought the coupon with me.

I had the $4 grand slam special with pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Paul had a make your own slam with eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. I had a cherry cherry limeade and Paul had coffee. The waiter was very attentive.

We drove over to Epcot after breakfast and were directed to the very far end of one of the parking rows. We didn’t want to park that far so left and drove over to the Beach Club and parked there and walked to Epcot. Somehow the walk from the Beach Club was much nicer than the walk down a long row of cars in a parking lot would have been.

Entering through the International Gateway, we took some pictures of the topiaries that were nearby. Epcot has extra magic hours tonight until midnight and it was packed here. We walked to Future World to do some of the attractions there.

We started in Innoventions and did the Piggy Bank Game. We never did this before and it was adorable. We both enjoyed it. It explained the power of saving and diversifying in a cute way that children could understand.

We went to the land to get fast passes for Soarin that were valid from 6:20-7:20. The standby line was about 80 minutes.

Living with the Land had a 20 minute wait so we got online and enjoyed this. The CM did a good job keeping the line moving and seated people in a logical way unlike the last time we were here and they put a few large people in the row with us and we were squished.

We just missed a showing of Circle of Life so waited about 10 minutes for the next one. Paul even stayed awake for most of it this time.

The wait time for most of the attractions were much longer than we wanted to wait. So we headed back to World Showcase and took the boat to Morocco. We walked around the countries taking more topiary pictures.

We saw the Reflections of China movie in China.

We shared a late lunch using one counter service credit at the Lotus Blossom café around 3:30pm. We had the orange chicken with white rice, ginger caramel ice cream, and Sprite. The food was pretty good and would have cost about $14 if we paid out of pocket. However, if we were paying for lunch rather than using a dining plan credit, we would not have ordered the ice cream. The only dessert choices here were either the ginger caramel ice cream or red bean ice cream.

We walked over to Maelstrom in Norway and that had a 30 minute wait so we got a fast pass instead which was valid from 4:40-5:40 and strolled over to Mexico. To our surprise the Three Caballeros boat ride which is normally a quick walk on often resulting in a boat to yourself, had a line going out of the normal queue. They had to put up ropes to create more of a queue. The line went quickly and we rode with a full boat.

We took a few pictures in Mexico. We looked in Cava de Tequila but I no longer saw the Margarita flight that I was trying to convince Paul to try. Cava de Tequila was crowded as well.

When it was time for our fastpass we went back to Norway. The fastpass worked great here, we walked right up to the loading dock and were quickly on a boat. We stayed for the quick movie about Norway. We smelled the Laila perfume in the shop on the way out. I smell it every time I’m here but am still unsure how I feel about it.

We walked back to Future World. It’s still very hot out today – probably low 90’s.

Test Track was very crowded, even the single rider line wait was 40 minutes.

Mission Space was not that bad. The Mild side was a 10 minute wait and the intense side was a 20 minute wait. I rode mild and Paul rode intense. I walked right on and rode with a father and his two sons. The younger son was itching to ride the intense side but the older son said he couldn’t and neither could the father. After the ride ended the younger kid was jumping up and down excited and trying to convince them to take him on the intense side while the poor older kid was a bit green.

I waited for Paul who came out a few minutes later. We played a few of the space games while we were there.

Innoventions West was closed it looked like for a private party so we didn’t get to ride Sum of All Thrills yet.

We walked back over to the Land since it was almost time for our fastpass. We stopped at Sunshine Seasons and shared a piece of strawberry shortcake using one snack credit. We saw it earlier and it looked good but we weren’t hungry at the time.

Even with the fast pass we waited about 25 minutes before we were actually on Soarin. We enjoyed the ride but were surprised to see what I originally thought was dirt on the screen in several of the scenes. Paul explained that it was not on the screen but the track itself. It was distracting to see and I was surprised that they didn’t shut the attraction for a few days to get that fixed. Paul used to work on Corporate Videos so knows all sorts of things about movies and videos. He often will critique how a scene changes from one to another since he understands all the background stuff where I’ll just watch it and enjoy it at face value.

Imagination with Figment was a walk on and we enjoyed the ride. We played some of the Imagination games after riding. There were a few of the kiosks that you send silly emails from that were out of service. The lack of upkeep is not what I usually expect at Disney.

We headed into World Showcase and to France for our dinner reservation at Chefs De France. I checked in and we waited about 15 minutes before our name was called. We asked if it’s possible to have a window table but weren’t pushy about it unlike this other couple giving them a hard time. They sat us at a terrible table behind a pole so close to a four top table that we were basically a table for six. We asked if we could move to the next table which was more stand alone and we were able to do that.

Our waiter came by to greet us and ask if we were on a dining plan. We told him we were on the regular plan and he asked to see our card so we showed him. He also asked that we keep the card on the table in the sugar thing so he would remember that we’re on the dining plan. He explained what we were able to get. Basically an entrée, dessert, and beverage OR we can choose from the Price fixe menu which also included an appetizer but was a limited selection of choices.

I ordered from the Price Fixe menu and got the French Onion Soup, Short Ribs, and the chocolate mousse cake. I don’t eat chocolate mousse cake, but was going to give that to Paul and he would order a dessert I wanted. Paul ordered the Duck and the Apple Crepes dessert. I had Sprite and Paul had coke. He also ordered the Escargot appetizer. When we ordered it the waiter was surprised since it isn’t on our plan and we said we know and would pay out of pocket for it and that we also have TIW for it. He was going on about how you can’t use TIW with the dining plan. We must have told him twice that we understand that we have to pay for the Escargot and would use TIW just for that. He said he would check with his manager.

This was the slowest most inattentive waiter we have had so far this trip. When he showed up he was pleasant but we never saw him and were constantly waiting for stuff.

The bread was very good, crusty on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. The soup and escargot were brought out. I had a few bites of the soup but am not a huge soup fan so gave it to Paul to finish. I tried his escargot and didn’t like it. I liked dipping the bread in the sauce.

We were able to watch Illuminations from our table. They dimmed the lights in the restaurant and we watched.

After a wait our entrees were served. This wasn’t a bad wait since it gave us a chance to finish our appetizers. We asked for some water and waited and waited. We ended up asking again before the waiter remembered to bring the water. My short ribs were served with egg noodles and was very good. Paul’s duck was served with mashed sweet potatos and haricot verts. He enjoyed his dish aside from the mashed sweet potatoes.

While we were waiting after finishing our entrees we noticed that many of the tables around us had different waiters that were very attentive and friendly. Two of the tables were given extra loaves of bread to take out with them.

Our waiter came by to bring our desserts which we quickly swapped plates with each other. The apple crepe was very good and Paul enjoyed his chocolate cake.

The waiter brought our bill and went through a big explanation of how it’s two separate checks because one is the dining plan and the other is the escargot. With TIW it automatically adds an 18% gratuity but the dining plan doesn’t add the gratuity so he reminded us that we needed to add that gratuity to the bill for the escargot since there isn’t a place to put it on the other receipt.

The food at Chefs De France was good but I was not thrilled with the service. I would not rush back. I was looking forward to this meal and was disappointed. I didn’t realize until much later (actually days later) that we never saw Remy (the mouse) visit our table. We didn’t see him in the room we were seated in either.

By the time we left the restaurant it was about 9:45 and we were deciding which attractions to hit during extra magic hours which was now under way. Paul was tired and didn’t want to stay so we headed out through the International Gateway, walked back to the Beach Club then drove back to Port Orleans.

Paul passed out as soon as we got back to our room. I can’t believe how tired he was since I was up earlier than him and did not nap on any attractions like he did.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 5/8/10
Paul was still tired from yesterday so slept later than usual. We didn’t leave until close to 11am then headed over to Animal Kingdom.

We walked right into Tough to Be a Bug which is always a cute show.

Next we walked over to Expedition Everest and went on the single rider line. The standby line was about 50 minutes. The single rider line was about 10 minutes but we were on pretty quickly and ended up on the same train. I was near the front of the train and Paul was in the back of the train.

We got a frozen strawberry lemonade snack using a dining plan snack credit. It’s hot out again today in the low 90’s. It’s supposed to cool off in another day or so.

We walked over to Dinosaur and the wait was listed as 10 minutes so we happily joined the queue in the air conditioned building.

We originally were thinking of having either the Yak & Yeti counter service or Flame Tree BBQ for lunch but both of those have outdoor seating areas. We had Chinese food counter service yesterday at Epcot so wanted something different today. We thought about picking up the food at Flame Tree and then bringing it over to Restaurantasaurus to eat indoors. We ended up looking at the menu at Restaurantasaurus and decided this was fine. We shared a counter service meal getting the bacon double cheeseburger with fries, soda, and cheesecake in a glass. They have a nice fixings bar with sautéed mushrooms and onions which we added to our burger.

One thing I found at Restaurantasaurus that I was very excited about (don’t laugh at me) but the ice cubes were a small cylinder that fit perfectly into a water bottle. So after eating I filled my cup with ice and then put those cubes into my water bottle.

We walked over to the Nemo show trying to catch the 2pm show but it was full. We decided to head out of Animal Kingdom and head over to Magic Kingdom.

On the way we stopped at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Paul wanted to look around. We stopped at the Mara and got a snack using the dining plan snack credit for an order of Zebra Domes. They were very good. We had our refillable mugs with us so had some soda. It’s interesting how the different hotels have different beverages in their drink stations. They all have the basics like coke, diet coke, sprite, etc, but then they all have something different. Port Orleans has the light pomegranate lemonade. AKL Mara has Mr Pibb.

After snacking Paul was saying how the pool looked so refreshing and he wanted to dip his feet. So we walked over by the pool. Paul remembered that the shorts he was wearing today were really a bathing suit so he took off his shirt and shoes and into the pool he went to cool off. I didn’t have a bathing suit with me so just watched him splash around for a while. It got a bit hot out there so I told him I would meet him inside so I headed into the lobby and browsed the shop. I bought a magazine and read that for a little while in the lobby while Paul finished up in the pool.

I spoke to my friend Kim who arrived in Florida after a delayed flight and was visiting her in laws and her parents today and tomorrow and would arrive in Disney World tomorrow afternoon.

Once Paul came in, we drove over to Kidani to see if our friend Amber was working at Sanaa today. She was so we hung out with her catching up for a little while.

Around 5pm we went to the Magic Kingdom. We got on the train to take it around to ToonTown for FantasyLand but the train sat in the station for a while. There were mechanical troubles with the train ahead of us. The train was full.

Once we made it to Toon Town we walked into FantasyLand and got a fast pass for Peter Pan that was good between 9:45 and 10:45 tonight. The park is open until 11 so we thought we could head back after dinner tonight.

We walked right into Mickey’s Philharmagic. It’s amazing how some people think the world revolves around them and refuse to follow instructions. These three girls were the first into the row and stopped right in the middle instead of moving all the way down. The cast member asked them to move and they ignored her. She asked repeatedly and they moved a few seats and stopped again. The poor cast member asked them about 10 times to move. There were people all waiting behind them for them to move. They finally moved but by then other people went around them so they were not all the way at the end. Too bad the CM didn’t have the ability to toss them out of the park. They were very annoying. We enjoyed the show.

Small World had a 25 minute wait so we headed over to Haunted Mansion. The wait was listed as 10 minutes but the queue was out to the gate. We got in line to see if the time was accurate. I started chatting with a woman on line ahead of us who had a Volunteer button on and she talked about the animal placement place she volunteered at in Ohio. The wait was just a bit over 10 minutes. The queue was set up with ropes to have people go back and forth in a single line rather than the usual mass filling the queue. Once in the room where the doom buggies are it was the normal crush to merge into the line to the buggies.

We walked over to Pirates and saw a 10 minute wait listed but the queue was longer than we expected. It was just over 10 minutes that we waited here too.

It was almost 8pm by now and we had to head out to make it to the Beach Club for our reservation at Cape May Café. We stopped at Tony’s by the entrance to the park to look at their menu thinking if it looked appealing maybe we would see if they could take a walk up instead so we would remain at the park. They weren’t doing walk ups so we headed out and drove to the Beach Club.

We were quickly seated and enjoyed our dinner. The waitress was very nice and attentive. The food was good. We mainly stuck with the crab legs and sea food. They added a new dessert item – a warm lava cake. It’s a mini round chocolate cake with warm filling. They were making them to order. I didn’t like it since I’m not a chocolate cake/pudding fan but Paul enjoyed it. My favorite dessert here is still the flan.

We used our dining plan table service credits for dinner so just had to pay the gratuity.

We are in good shape with our dining plan table service credits, but will have extra counter service credits since we’ve shared meals because we weren’t that hungry. Once we get to Tuesday (when we switch from Port Orleans to our timeshare) if we still have extra counter service credits we will probably order something to go from Wolfgang Puck express and keep it at the timeshare to heat up for a later meal.

We walked outside and they were showing a movie on the beach. It was almost over since it was already after 10pm. We decided not to head back to Magic Kingdom since they were closing at 11.

We sat on the swing on the beach for a bit and saw the end of the movie and then drove back to Port Orleans.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 5/9/10
We drove over to Port Orleans Riverside since Paul wanted to investigate that resort. It’s much bigger than our side (Port Orleans French Quarter). We spent some time wandering around the grounds.

I called my Mother to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day.

We drove over to Downtown Disney to have lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express. We shared the BBQ Chicken Pizza using one counter service on our dining plan. They were out of crème brulee so we had a cookie as our dessert. This is the second time we’ve been here and they were out of crème brulee. I was surprised they did not have it available since we were there at about noon today so they just started serving lunch. They should be better prepared. They are open serving breakfast so could get the crème brulee prepped then. The cashier said they weren’t ready and she didn’t know when they would be.

We wandered around World of Disney but didn’t see anything we wanted to buy. Since we come to Disney so often, there aren’t always new items.

A band was performing outside so we watched them for a bit.

We headed back to Port Orleans and went swimming in the pool. I went down the slide at the pool. It’s cute and you slide down the dragon’s tongue. I read some more of my book poolside.

Paul wanted a little snack so stopped at the food court area to refill our mugs and came back with an order of French fries. We both enjoyed our snack.

After swimming we got ourselves ready to head out to meet Kim and her family at Epcot for dinner at the Garden Grill.

We got to Epcot around 5:30pm and walked right onto Spaceship Earth.

In Innoventions there was a very short line for Sum of All Thrills so we designed our Jet Ride and had a fun time riding our creation. As we were getting off, Paul dropped his sunglasses and they fell under the ride platform. They asked us to come back once Innoventions closes at 7 and they will be able to get them for us.

We did the Waste Management Attraction right next to Sum of All Thrills. This was very cute too. It reminded me of the piggy bank game we did the other day but this time about recycling. You have a team name, we were Team Kiki (our dogs name) and you push your little garbage truck from one area to another and play games sorting recyclables, building up a landfill, etc. This is a great way to teach kids about waste management in a fun way.

It was now 7pm and Kim was calling since they were at the restaurant already. I told her what happened to Paul’s glasses and that we would be a few more minutes. They were able to get his glasses and after thanking them we were the last guests to leave Innoventions to a line of cast members wishing us a good night.

We had dinner at the Garden Grill with Kim, David, and Kathryn. The characters were there quickly after we sat down, before we even ordered our beverages and we took a lot of pictures. The food was very good. David is lactose intolerant so he was given a special plate made with his allergy taken into account. Kathryn enjoyed her macaroni and cheese eating it with her hands and getting it all over including in her hair. The rolls with maple butter were delicious. We were served a salad which was finely chopped and very tasty with a bit of a kick to the dressing. The entrees were served on a big rectangle platter and included steak, turkey, mahi mahi, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. Dessert was also served family style – a strawberry rhubard crumble with fresh whipped cream on top. We are all on the dining plan so used that to pay for dinner, just leaving the gratuity.

Illuminiations was going to start in about 10 minutes so we made our way to World Showcase to watch. Once it ended Kim decided they weren’t going to join us for extra magic hours at Magic Kingdom so we went our separate ways planning to meet up later this week.

Paul and I made our way to Magic Kingdom and arrived just before 10pm when extra magic hours started.

We walked through the castle into FantasyLand. Peter Pan had a 40 minute wait listed so we got on line for Small World instead which only had a 15 minute wait posted but it was basically a walk on, just waiting for people to get out of the boat that was going. There was a bit of a backup with the boats turning over, but it was pretty quick.

Once we exited Small World the line for Peter Pan was listed as 30 minutes so we joined the line. It ended up being about 15 minutes before we were off to Neverland.

We quickly walked onto Snow White and Winnie the Pooh without much of a wait.

We rode the Tea Cups next.

The temperature has cooled down now that it’s dark and it’s beautiful out and we’re able to enjoy being outside wandering around Magic Kingdom.

We made our way into TomorrowLand and Paul got a tropical smoothie at Auntie Gravity using a snack credit. After finishing his smoothie Paul went on Space Mountain. I was still full from dinner so didn’t ride.

We went onto Buzz Lightyear together. I earned my usual measly score of a few thousand points while Paul did very well.

It was about 12:30am now and Extra Magic Hours ended at 1am. We wanted to avoid the last minute rush to exit so made our way towards Main Street to exit the park. We stopped at the Main Street Bakery and got a freshly made ice cream cookie sandwich using a snack credit to share. This thing was huge. Two big chocolate chip cookies that were loaded up with vanilla ice cream in between them. Even sharing it we didn’t finish it.

We headed out onto a waiting monorail and were quickly back at our car to drive back to Port Orleans. We were back by about 1:30

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 5/10/10
Trying to decide where to spend today, we thought of heading to Tampa to go to the Hard Rock Casino. We usually do this at least once a trip to Disney. We are right in the middle of the trip so this will break the theme park touring up.

We wanted to have lunch/brunch first to use a counter service credit since we have so many left.

We went to Magic Kingdom with plans to have lunch at Cosmic Rays.

On Main Street we stopped in the jewelry store and I saw a nice pair of earrings I am thinking of getting. They are gold Mickey Heads with a platinum (maybe silver) crown hanging from a post. They are $120. I have a Disney Gift card for $25 that I will use towards them as well as my annual pass discount. I didn’t have the gift card with me, so will come back for them another day.

The line for Space Mountain was listed as 20 minutes so we got on line. The attraction had technical difficulties while we were on line so the wait ended up being about an hour by the time we were off. Once things were up and running we had a fun ride.

We went into Cosmic Ray’s about 1pm and it was packed. We shared a counter service meal using the dining plan. We ordered the ½ rotisserie chicken / ribs combo which comes with green beans and mashed potatoes (we substituted French fries instead), soda, and carrot cake. Out of pocket this would have cost about $18. I can’t imagine one person eating all this food. It was more than enough for us to share.

After lunch we went on the Carousel of Progress.

We also took a quick ride on the TTA. This is a nice attraction to just hang out and put your feet up in.

We went into Monsters Inc Laugh Floor since we have not seen that for a while. It was very cute and we enjoyed it. The acts seemed different from last time I saw it so that was enjoyable.

Making our way up Main Street, the 3pm parade was about to start so we watched that then headed out We stopped at the Polynesian to use the ATM to get some money for our casino trip. Paul grabbed our mugs and we stopped in Capt Cooks and shared a Spicy Shrimp sushi roll. We paid out of pocket for this.

We left about 4pm and drove to Tampa to the Hard Rock Casino. We made decent time and were at the Casino before 5pm. We left our casino cards home so got new ones and then started looking for machines we liked.

We found my new favorite, a pick em up poker multi hand machine. So we sat down to play. Paul pretty quickly hit 4 of a kind on two of his hands. Shortly after I hit four Aces (a higher payout than other four of a kinds) so I cashed out about $200 and we went to try our luck at some other machines. We wandered the casino playing several different machines, some up some down. Before leaving we went back to the machines we started at choosing different actual machines and played there a bit before leaving. I hit four 4’s before we left. We ended up going home ahead. My winnings will go towards my Mickey Earrnings.

We drove back to Disney, stopping for gas along the way. We made it back in less than an hour and were trying to decide what to have for dinner.

We drove to Downtown Disney and parked near the West Side. We looked at the menu at Wolfgang Puck (not the express but the restaurant) but nothing really appealed. We ended up walking across to the MarketPlace side and looked at the menu at Capt Jack’s but weren’t thrilled with that either. Wolfgang Puck express was an option since we have plenty of counter service credits to use up, but they were out of crème brulee again so we changed our mind.

We ended up at Raglan Road. I wanted to give this place another try. We ate here once years ago right after they opened and did not enjoy it. I’m really glad we gave it another try as we both enjoyed it this time. A band was playing. An Irish dancer would come out and perform. We were brought our beverages (Coke & Sprite) and bread with a sweet dipping sauce. I asked the waitress and she said it was soda bread. I don’t know if the bread was good or we were just really hungry since it was after 9pm already. I ordered the short ribs and Paul ordered the Mixed Grill. My dish was presented in such a cute way – in a little pot. It was really good.

For dessert I had Gers Bread & Butter pudding and Paul had the Donbury Kiss.

We used our dining plan table service credits and just left the gratuity.

We headed back to Port Orleans and did some packing for our move tomorrow.

 

[Noreen411]

Tuesday 5/11/10
We finished the last of the packing this morning and then went to the food court to get breakfast. We shared the bounty platter which includes scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a Mickey Waffle, home fries, and a biscuit. We also got an extra croissant. We used our TIW card and paid out of pocket.

Kim, David, and Kathryn met us at Port Orleans after our breakfast since they wanted to see the room. We hung out for a bit and then they were heading to Epcot and we drove over to Vistana to see if we can check in early. It was around 11am.

Surprisingly, our villa was ready. It wasn’t in the Lakes section where we were supposed to be and where we own, but in a newly refurbished Cascades Villa. It also was on the 3rd floor rather than the top floor, but I was happy to have something ready now. We went over to see the villa. It’s very nice and modern looking. It’s smaller than the same type of villa in the Lakes section. There also should be more drawers. A lot of the counters that you expect to have a drawer do not.

Walking in the door, the kitchen is to the right. Beyond that is the dining room and living room, with the patio just after that. To the left of the door is the stacked washer/dryer. The bathroom has a door from the living room as well as from the master bedroom. There is a toilet and shower in one room and a sink in another. In the master bedroom there is another sink. There is a nice Jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom. There is a door to the patio from both the living room and the master bedroom.

We drove over to Publix to pick up a few groceries and some laundry detergent. When we got back to Vistana we brought everything upstairs and did some unpacking.

We left by 12:45 because we have reservations with Kim, David, and Kathryn for lunch at Le Cellier in Epcot so we drove to the Beach Club to park and then walked over to Epcot.

I chose items from the price fixe lunch menu and had the spicy chicken and chipotle sausage as an appetizer, the Prime Rib sandwich, and crème brulee. Paul had the Filet Mignon and the chocolate mousse. We both had soda. Kim and David also ordered from the price fixe menu and had prime rib sandwiches as well. We used the last of our table service credits on the dining plan. This is a lot of food.

After eating we all walked back to the Beach Club (they parked there also) to get our cars. I used a snack credit for a chocolate croissant that I will have for breakfast one morning from the Beach Club marketplace. Kim and her family went back to their hotel to swim/nap. Paul and I stopped at Downtown Disney to pick up some counter service meals to go and bring back to Vistana for another time. We have a bunch of counter service and snack credits we need to use by midnight tonight. We went to Wolfgang Puck express and ordered the meatball/pepper pizza and the meatloaf dish to go. We ordered crème brulee for each. They said they can’t do the crème brulee to go since they don’t have the metal cups anymore it’s just in the ramekin. However, they said we can put it into a to-go thing ourselves. We got different juices in bottles as the beverage which we can have for breakfast. The crème brulee didn’t come out of the ramekin that neatly but it will still taste the same.

We stopped in Goofy’s candy company and picked up a piece of chocolate covered strawberry fudge using another snack credit.

We drove back to Vistana and started putting everything away. I unpacked the suitcases and started some laundry.

We headed out to get dinner around 8:15 and drove to Pop Century. We picked up an order of beef with broccoli, tie dyed cheesecake, and apple juice using a counter service credit on the dining plan. We took this to go.

Then we drove over to Downtown Disney to Wolfgang Puck Express where they are out of Crème Brulee yet again. We ordered the penne Bolognese, the Turkey Club sandwich, with a cookie, frozen yogurt, soda, and apple juice in a bottle to go using two more of our counter service meals from the dining plan.

We’re anxious to use the credits from the dining plan since they expire tonight at midnight. Since we are in the timeshare we know we can put things in the refrigerator and heat them up later.

We drove back to Vistana and Paul got stuck in the car when we parked. I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t getting out of the car, and he said he’s stuck. The shorts he was wearing have a fabric belt attached to them and the end of it got stuck in the seat belt thing on the side. I was able to dislodge it and he was able to get out of the car. It wasn’t easy to do since I was busy laughing the whole time. We ate our dinner which was the new food from Wolfgang Puck Express while watching the Biggest Loser.

After the show we drove over to the Boardwalk to go to the Boardwalk bakery to use the balance our of snack credits. We got flan, an éclair, and the brownie cheesecake.

Now just one more counter service credit to use and we’re all set. We drove back to Downtown Disney and went to Cookes of Dublin and got an order of fish and chips, mini donuts, and a bottle of water to go.

We drove back to Vistana with all our additional items to put them away.

I did some more laundry.

Overall, I don’t think the dining plan the way it’s currently set up is right for us. If the credits didn’t expire and we could have used them the rest of the time we’re here maybe it would have been better for us. I feel like we spent hours today just getting food so the credits didn’t go to waste.

If we were able to get the dining plan for just one of us that may have worked since we often would share a counter service meal for lunch.

I’m glad we tried it and it was convenient to be able to have our meals without paying each time since it was paid for in advance. But now we know firsthand that using Tables in Wonderland (TIW) is a better option for us since it gives us more flexibility in eating what we want when we want without the pressure to use a certain number of meals/snacks.

 

[Noreen411]

Wednesday 5/12/10
Paul made breakfast in the villa this morning.

We headed over to Hollywood Studios this morning. As we were on the tram from the parking lot arriving at the park, Paul realized he left his annual pass and the camera in the car so we stayed on the tram to ride back. I ended up getting off and just waiting for Paul to ride to the car and back. He was back in about 10 minutes so it wasn’t too bad.

Hollywood Studios was packed today. I guess because the park is open until 10pm tonight and Fantasmic is showing. Fantasmic is only showing on Wednesday and Sunday. We walked around for a while, but it was too crowded to be enjoyable. We looked in some of the stores to see if I could find earrings that I liked but couldn’t find any.

Tower of Terror had a 30 minute wait listed, but the line was all the way out to the walkway so we didn’t wait.

We decided to head out of the park.

We stopped at Hess to pick up some more soda and then headed back to Vistana. We drove around the resort poking around a bit.

We headed back to our villa and had lunch. We ate some of the pizza and some of the fish and chips.

Paul dozed off after we ate and I played on the computer for a little while.

We got ready to head out and stopped by one of the other sections to see a new activity center they put in. We were planning to head to Magic Kingdom for a little while. Kim called while we were there to see what we were up to. She wanted to come by to see our villa so we hung out while she came over. After seeing our villa we went back to Animal Kingdom Lodge to see their villa in Kidani. It’s very nice and surprising that a one bedroom has two full bathrooms.

We all went over to Downtown Disney. We went into World of Disney and I finally got my earrings that I was looking at in Magic Kingdom. I received 10% off with my annual pass. They didn’t have a box or another pair so I bought the display pair. After wandering around a bit we headed over to the Polynesian for dinner at O’Hana.

We checked in about 7pm for our 7:05 reservation. We were seated by 7:15. With David’s allergy they skipped the bread section where they usually give you that right away and brought us to our table. The chef came over to discuss what David can/can’t eat. With a lactose intolerant allergy he can eat everything except the bread or the dessert.

Salad was quickly dropped off at our table. We asked the person serving the salad if we can have bread also so he brought that over.

Our waitress was a bit slow to take our beverage order and bring it out. We were finished with the salad by the time she showed up with our beverages.

The wings, dumplings, noodles, and vegetables came out next. We were just talking about how they are spacing the food out well when they started arriving with the meats. They quickly gave us turkey and pork, and the steak soon followed. We waited a little bit for the shrimp to come out.

The food was very good and the waitress made another appearance to refill our drinks.

The chef brought David a special dessert which was a tower of non dairy ice cream, brownies, banana, pineapple all standing on a skewer with a chunk of pineapple on the bottom. He drizzled some chocolate like syrup on the top of it. David thanked him for the nice dessert. Often they just give him a bowl of lactose free ice cream which gets boring day after day. They didn’t give him a spoon so he ate it with a fork. A little later they brought out the pineapple bread pudding with bananas foster sauce and ice cream for the rest of us. Kathryn was brought a bowl of ice cream.

After dinner it was almost 9pm so we walked out to the lake and watched Wishes. After Wishes ended there were other fireworks nearby that were really nice too. One man watching near us commented that the extra ones that we couldn’t figure out where they came from were better than Wishes.

We walked back to our respective cars and headed back to our hotels with plans to meet at Universal tomorrow.

I used the Jacuzzi in the villa. I was enjoying myself until I saw little black things shooting out of the jets. I’m guessing dust or something, but that was enough for me and I jumped out.

 

[Noreen411]

Thursday 5/13/10
We had breakfast in the timeshare – just English muffins and a slice of bacon and then headed to Universal arriving by 9:30am.

We started in Universal Studios and went straight to Rip Ride Rocket which was open and running with only a 10 minute wait. We put our stuff in the free lockers and got on line. We did not even wait 10 minutes. It’s nice how you pick your own music to hear for the ride. The first hill that you go straight up is a little nerve racking, but once you take off, it really is a fun and smooth ride. And it doesn’t actually flip over. I was surprised there wasn’t a shoulder harness when you get in just a safety thing across your lap. As you are going up the loop, just before you go upside down, it flips so you are on top of the track rather than upside down and then does the same thing on the way down.

We walked over to the Mummy next and after storing our stuff in the locker, were quickly on the ride.

We filled our Universal Mug with soda and our popcorn bucket with popcorn and then headed over to Islands of Adventure. 79 cents for each refill if you have the mug/bucket.

Kim and I texted each other and she was already at Islands of Adventure near Jurassic Park so we walked over from Universal Studios to Islands of Adventure towards that section, but missed her. Paul rode Jurassic Park River Adventure while I waited since I don’t like going on rides that you get wet in your clothes.

Paul went on Dueling Dragons and I waited for him. We saw some people over in the Harry Potter section but couldn’t figure out how they got in since the entrance was still blocked.

There are a lot of class trips here in Islands of Adventure. There are different groups all wearing similar shirts with the school name and it usually would say something like “2010 Islands of Adventure Class of 2010 Trip”

We saw the 12:30 Sinbad stunt show which was very enjoyable. We haven’t seen this in several trips so it seemed new.

One of the shops near Sinbad sold Sanuk flip flops that I just recently read about so when I found a pair in my size I tried them on. The sole of the flip flop is made out of yoga mats. They seemed pretty comfortable so I bought them and got 10% off with my Universal annual pass. The woman asked if I wanted to wear them and she gave me a bag to put my sneakers in so I put them right on.

We went over to Poseiden’s Adventure and had to wait about 20 minutes for the next show which was starting at 1:40. We have not ridden this in ages either. They changed it a bit. I remember there used to be a circle of moving water that you walked through and now it seemed like it was mist that you walked through instead.

We found ourselves in Seuss Landing so rode Cat in the Hat. It was a quick wait and a very cute ride. We noticed that most of the Universal attractions themselves are longer in duration than the Disney attractions.

Hulk did not have a long wait, so Paul rode quickly.

We rode Dr Dooms Fearfall. This is such a quick ride but it’s fun. It just shoots you straight up in the air and then you bounce back down.

We waited about 15 minutes to ride Spiderman.

It was already about 3pm and we didn’t have any lunch yet and were starving but did not want to ruin our appetite for dinner so we shared one slice of pizza and then shared a churro.

We walked back over to Universal Studios and got in line for Shrek. When we got in line I thought I saw Kim’s stroller where the strollers were parked so I called her and left a message asking if she is waiting for Shrek. We entered the attraction and enjoyed the s how.

We walked over to the new Disaster show which was really the old Earthquake just spruced up a bit. It was pretty fun.

We went on Men In Black which we haven’t been on in several trips either and it was a lot of fun. Paul did a good job shooting the aliens and had a high score while I had a measly score.

The park was closing at 7pm and it was already 6:30 so we headed out. Kim sent me a text asking what time our reservation was at Sanaa. It was 7:20 but they were hungry and wanted to go a little sooner. We told them we were leaving and would come straight there. They sat and were already served their entrees before we got there. We joined their table and ordered. We shared the duck appetizer. I ordered the Slow Cooked entrée choosing the short ribs and the shrimp in green curry with basmati rice. Paul had the NY strip steak. David had that and said it was delicious. After a few bites of our entrees Paul and I switched since I liked his better. David and Catherine had their dessert and went back to their room while Kim hung out with us and ordered her dessert when we did. I had rice pudding. Paul had vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

After we finished we hung out with our friend Amber for a little while before heading out. Kim went back to her room.

Paul took a bit of a circular route back to our hotel because he wanted to see where on 192 we ended up if we went down Sherberth Road. So we took a bit of a tour down 192 before getting back to Vistana.

I went in the Jacuzzi for a little while and it seemed cleaner today than yesterday when little black particles shot out of the jets. I did some laundry after.

 

[Noreen411]

Friday 5/14/10
Paul made breakfast in the villa for us.

We went to Magic Kingdom in the morning. We parked at the Polynesian and took the monorail over.

The Tiki Bird show was about to start so we went in to watch. It was more crowded than this show usually is.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had over a 30 minute wait so we got a fast pass instead.

We wandered over to Hall Of President’s but it was having technical difficulties and they didn’t know when it would open.

Haunted Mansion only had a 10 minute wait so we went on.

Walking back towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Kim called and they were right by Peco Bills so we met up with them and hung out for a bit. They were about to head out of the park to go swim since it was very hot out.

We made plans to meet up for dinner at Kona Café at 7pm.

Paul and I rode Big Thunder Mountain using our fast passes and were on quickly. It was a lot of fun.

We walked back through Adventureland and stopped for a Dole Whip Float.

We headed out of Magic Kingdom and got on the monorail. They announced that the monorail would go out of service at the Contemporary (next stop) and if you needed to go elsewhere to wait for the next one. Paul had a good idea – why not stay on this mornorail to the Contemporary and get off there waiting for the next monorail in air conditioned comfort rather than standing out in the heat so we did.

When we got to the Contemporary we got off and waited for the next monorail. We waited a good 20 minutes before one came.

We made it back to the Polynesian and went to the car and headed out towards Port Canaveral. There was a rocket shuttle launch scheduled for 2:20 today and Paul wanted to try to see it. We saw many people pulled over on the side of road on 417. Suddenly, we saw a light go across the sky so we just pulled over and grabbed the video camera and regular camera to try to capture it. The prediction was for a huge crowd at Port Canaveral or any town near there so in a way it worked out better for us that we just saw it from further away. We headed back towards Disney after we saw it.

We stopped at WalMart since we usually try to go in one while in Disney since we don’t have one near us. All we ended up buying was a bag of muchos and some Pina Colada flavored tic tacs.

We got back to Vistana and heated up some of our leftover counter service food for lunch. After lunch we got in our bathing suits and headed over to the Cascades pool. We swam and played in the pool for a few hours. Then we headed over to a different section to see that pool – I think it was the Springs.

We went back to our villa to shower and get dressed to meet Kim and her family for dinner at Kona. We drove over to the Polynesian for dinner. Paul said maybe next time we stay at Disney we should stay at the Polynesian since we seem to spend so much time there.

We were seated pretty quickly. I had the pomegranate pork chops. Paul ordered the sushi sampler and an order of chicken wings. We both had soda. For dessert I had the banana crème brulee. David also had the pomegranate pork chop and had a special lactose free dessert. Kim had one of the prix fix meals and chose the cucumber sushi roll, miso glazed mahi mahi, and the coconut Kiki tart (basically a coconut custard tart). I was glad she ordered it since I wanted to taste it. Kathryn had a kids meal and had Mickey shaped ravioli. Dinner was good and we all enjoyed our food. We wandered around the Poly after dinner watching the end of wishes and then stopping in the shops.

We headed back to Vistana and I did another load of laundry, did most of the packing, and we enjoyed the in room Jacuzzi for the last time this trip.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 5/15/10
We finished packing and getting our stuff together to check out. After checking out, I did the airline check in at the kiosk they have in Vistana’s lobby. They don’t take your luggage or anything like that, but you are able to print your boarding passes.

We drove to the Beach Club and went in to see if Kim and her family were still at Cape May Café having breakfast. When we didn’t see them, we called and they were on the boat on the way to Hollywood Studios. We walked through the Yacht Club to head towards to boat to take that to Hollywood Studios to meet Kim.

I had my refillable mug filled with soda at the coffee bar in the Yacht Club lobby. The woman working there was not very happy. Her name tag said that she was from Staten Island, NY so I struck up a conversation on that asking how long she’s been in Florida. She was here for 10 years and hates it, the people aren’t that nice and she would prefer to go back home.

We got on the boat to Hollywood Studios and Kim sent a text that it was packed there. We went into the park and the wait times were pretty long. We just missed the American Idol show so decided to head out and go to Epcot.

We waited for the next boat which was full and we were among the last people who got on. A line of people were left waiting for the next boat. We were planning to take the boat all the way across to Epcot, but ended up getting off at the Boardwalk and wandering there for a bit. It was very hot out and we weren’t really in the mood to traipse through the park in the heat.

We took the next boat over to the Beach Club, wandered through there back to the car and drove back to Vistana to spend the afternoon at the pool. I purposely kept my bathing suit and some almost empty travel size toiletries handy so we could come back and swim if we chose to.

We got a quick lunch at Vistana’s Marketplace and shared a turkey and provolone sandwich on Focaccia bread. We decided to swim at the Fountains Section pool today. We spent a few hours at the pool.

Before leaving for the airport I went into the locker room to shower and get changed.

We stopped for gas for the car and to pick up some Chick FilA to bring on the plane. We drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car.

The check in line took almost ½ hour. This was the line for those people who already checked in online, had boarding passes, and needed to check luggage. I missed our easy check in last trip where we stayed at Disney and not only did the airline check in at the hotel but they also took our luggage and checked that through for us.

After checking the luggage we headed to the security line which took maybe 20 minutes.

We were at our gate by 6:35 and boarding was supposed to start at 6:52 with the flight scheduled for 7:22pm. We picked up some water and soda to take on the plane. We started chatting with some guy who was also getting on our flight and just came from Disney too.

We boarded by 7:15 and got settled into our seats. Then they announced that we would be delayed because they are waiting for a part to be changed.

We watched some sitcoms on the TVs – Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, and Friends. Then they announced some other delay.

We didn’t take off until 9:30pm. JetBlue let everyone watch the movies for free. I watched Leap Year. It was cute and passed the time.

We landed by around 11:45 and got off to get our luggage which came out quickly. We called Corporate Park and they picked us up quickly.

We got our car and were on the way home.

We arrived home around 1am and Kiki (our dog) was thrilled to see us. We took her out for a little walk and then just hung out with her for a bit before going to bed.

 

[Noreen411]

FINAL THOUGHTS
This was another fun Disney Trip. We realized that the Disney Dining Plan is too much food for us and doesn’t work for the way we eat. We also realized that since we go to Disney so often, sometimes we get “parked out” and don’t need to spend all day running around the parks. We are looking forward to our next Disney trip in the fall when we will spend some time at Universal enjoying the new Harry Potter World which will be open then. JetBlue also gave us $25 credit each for the flight delay. We received an email a few days after arriving home. So that will go towards our flights for our next trip.

In the past we used to plan trips more spur of the moment and go. I’m really enjoying getting trips booked in advance and having them to look forward to.

If anyone has any questions, let me know as I love talking about Disney

 

[es45]

Thanks for the great TR. After staying at POFQ and Vistana, which resort did you prefer?

 

[Noreen411]

Thanks for the great TR. After staying at POFQ and Vistana, which resort did you prefer?

Hi

It's a little hard to compare since one is a hotel room and one is a full villa.

I love the theming at Disney and the ability to go to Extra Magic Hours.

However, you can't beat the space and convenience of the villa.

It's a tough call and it depends on the trip, but I would probably give just a slight edge to the villa at Vistana.

Now, if I were to combine what I liked best about each and stay at one of the Disney DVC villas...that would be the best of both worlds.

Noreen