Wait, do we have a Fast Pass for that? Final Update, Final Thoughts and Favs 1/26

[KatMark]

Sara, I'm back and caught up (sorry...as you know it's been a rough week).

I know I posted it on FB, but I loved the reveal video.

POR-Riverside is absolutely stunning. We've always stayed at Coronado, but I always say if we went back to a moderate and couldn't get Coronado, POR-Riverside is the only other moderate we would like to stay at. Your pictures capture it's beauty (I never realized how pretty the registration building is).

Unfortunately, we had a couple of "unnamed" CM's that were not very happy to be at their jobs.

Two hours to walk around and get pictures and some quiet time sounds good to me.

 

[PrncessA]

Subbing in - sounds like fun so far!

Sorry, I missed you up there!

Thanks for joining along!

POR looks beautiful.

Wow, that CM was something else. Rude much? Goodness.

And hey, it's okay, after a long day of traveling everyone feels better with some sleep. I know I get cranky too if I've been up too long and things don't go according to plan

I would love to stay at POR again!

We were definitely ready for some R&R, it gave me pause for what would happen at the MK on our 3am day.

 

[PrncessA]

What a beautiful way to start out the day Mrs. I Am Not A Morning Person. No, seriously, the pictures of the resort are fantastic. I bet that it wasn't too terribly bad having to wait two hours for the milk when you can enjoy views like that.

No sleeping at Disney!!! I wish my views were like that at home while I am grocery shopping!!

Love it so far. Your son is sweet. I have a 9 year old boy with some social issues and sensory issues too. You're daughter is cute too. I have two boys, can't wait to read all about your trip. Good start so far.

Thank you! He is my little guy! He is a challenge sometimes, but he is a sweetheart. I am so glad you are joining along.

Sara, I'm back and caught up (sorry...as you know it's been a rough week).

I know I posted it on FB, but I loved the reveal video.

POR-Riverside is absolutely stunning. We've always stayed at Coronado, but I always say if we went back to a moderate and couldn't get Coronado, POR-Riverside is the only other moderate we would like to stay at. Your pictures capture it's beauty (I never realized how pretty the registration building is).

Unfortunately, we had a couple of "unnamed" CM's that were not very happy to be at their jobs.

Two hours to walk around and get pictures and some quiet time sounds good to me.

Hi Kathy! I understand completely!

We were pretty fortunate and that really was the only CM that was outwardly rude. I did encounter some upiddyness in France, but maybe it was a language barrier.

It is so peaceful at POR, even as the morning and then afternoon wore on and more people were out and about, it just had this sense of calmness that surrounded it. That was when I was yelling at my kids to stop running, they were going to hurt themselves.

 

[PrncessA]

On our last update POR was explored, pictures were taken and milk was bought. Now on with the show!

After I finally made it back to our room it was after 8am, what was my family thinking sleeping in? I let Erik wake up a bit before I decided to open the curtains and let the kids wake up on their own with the sunshine and oh, lets add the sound of the TV to help things along…

Now here is what I need to stress very heavily, E has ADHD. He is a very happy child in the mornings, after he takes a few minutes to wake up, and his behavior and talking goes from 0-110mph in seconds! At home I wake him up a full hour before he has to get ready for school, or we have to go somewhere, and give him his medication, then let him play in his room or watch cartoons until it takes effect. If Lorelai is up, this is when the majority of their arguments and fights happen since he is wild and she is not a morning person. It is explosive in our house for about an hour every morning! It was a challenge on this trip to contain him in the mornings, and mix that with the fact that a couple of days we moved his medicine around a little to help on late nights. Anyone who has a child with ADHD will sympathize.

Eventually the kids woke up and we had some muffins, bananas and milk. I think Erik made some coffee for us. Lorelai and I were ready to go go go! The pool was open now and time was wasting away! Erik and E were on one of their tablets talking about some game… so the girls made an executive decision to go without them. We changed into our suits and headed over to Ol’ Man’s Island. I grabbed two chairs with our towels right in the entrance so the boys would see, which they did so success!

It was turning out to be a warm day, so it was already nice to cool off in the pool. Lorelai is a pretty good swimmer, but isn’t very confident, but she loved the slide and went down many many times. It wasn’t very long and the boys joined us and E started the slide rotation as well. He is a very good swimmer so I didn’t have to catch him. We explored the pool a bit, it is very well themed, and spent some time in the hot tub, E’s favorite kinda pool. I was ready to sit out for a while so I went back to the room to get my camera, to end up only taking three photos…







I knew my family so well and after about an hour or so of swimming they were done and wanted to know what was next. I guess it was good that I had planned for this! We headed back to the room to clean up and change before heading over to the bike rentals.

I had asked the kids if they wanted to get a surrey bike or their own and they were in no way interested in a surrey bike. This was good since we found out that surrey bike cannot bike to POFQ and regular bikes can. We signed our waivers, the kid’s put on their helmets and we were off.

Should I mention here that I haven’t been on a bicycle in 15 years that wasn’t stationary? Oh well, it’s just like riding a bike. I was thinking of how wrong that statement was when I was yelling sorry to the multiple people I almost ran over. I did get the hang of it pretty quickly again though. We headed toward the Alligator Bayou section, but I was concentrating on staying upright and enjoying the breeze that I didn’t get much of a feel for the area.

Eventually we made it over the bridge and had the option to turn to head to POFQ, so we did. It was a quick ride down the “river” and we were gliding by their pool and we found this pretty fountain.









After a quick break for water we were on the hunt for the most important item at POFQ… beignets! We parked our bike outside the food court and headed in. DH spied a sandwich he wanted and grabbed one while I was standing in line at the dessert counter. I ordered my 6 fresh beignets and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. It was huge and I split it between the two kids. Beignets and ice cream is lunch at Disney right?






We found a table near the window where we could watch our bikes and dug in! Erik had ordered the Buffalo Chicken Po' Boy with the housemade chips and boy was it huge! It was a great size to split. I thought that $9.49 was a very fair price for it.



I have to say that even after 7 days of deluxe dining, we both had determined that this was one of the best meals we had the entire trip. The chicken was yummy and not fatty and the bread was the very soft and warm. I HATE when I get breaded chicken and it has pieces of fat that are chewy. The chips had a spicy seasoning on them that was very good as well.

The kids ate their ice cream and I gave them each a beignet. What was the verdict?



Lorelai loved them and ate another!



E didn’t really care for them, although he ate half of one. He then tried to recreate the scene from “The Princess and The Frog” where Charlotte stuffs the beignet into “Daddy’s” mouth.





We met a CM who was changing the garbage bags while we were eating who was from Chicago. He noticed DH's Blackhawks hat. He was super nice and it was fun to meet so many people. After he walked away, E said "He is so lucky, he gets to come to Disney World everyday. I would do any job to work at Disney, even clean toliets." This changed to "I want to be a stunt man at Disney when I grow up!" later in the trip. E was very interested in where everyone who worked at Disney World lived, maybe we have a future CM on our hands.

After seeing the grounds of POFQ I am glad we went with POR. POFQ was fun, but not as pretty and restful as POR. Resting during our stop, gave the kids some down time to find some complaints. First, Ethan’s shoe was hurting his foot and he didn’t want to put it back on. Second, Lorelai’s helmet had the pointy side of Velcro on it n three places on the inside (I have no idea why) and it was hurting her head, and she did not want to put it back on. With a little convincing they put them back on and we headed back to POR.

As a side note let me tell you a constant battle for this week that I did not anticipate. My family LOVES socks (except for me), but I figured it would be so hot in Florida and we were wearing sandals and crocs so they weren’t needed. All three of my family members were livid at me the entire trip for not bringing them. E was so upset that we bought him socks at DTD. That’s right folks; I paid $16.95 for three pair of Mickey Mouse socks to make my son happy. I always wondered who in their right mind would pay so much for something like that… now I know. At least they seem to be good quality. Doesn’t change the fact that I just paid $4.99 for 8 pair at Menards for him last weekend and they provide the same protection…

We made it back to POR a few minutes past an hour after we left and we headed back to our room to cool off. At that point is was about 1:00pm and we had early dinner plans at DTD.

Next up: Walls, walls, everywhere you look are walls!!!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Great updates Sara! Love your pics of POR and POFQ. Makes me want to go back again! We loved the beignets at POFQ.

 

[KatMark]

Great update, Sara.

I am not a morning person either. Just ask my husband. You would think by now my oldest son would have learned NOT to talk to me until I 've had my coffee!

A little pool time, a bike ride, some lunch and a rest...sounds like a perfect, lazy day to me (I can't remember the last time I was on a bike...I don't think I want to either). I'm with your DS...I did NOT like the beignets either. But that sandwich hubby got looks really yummy.

Oh, I know what walls you are talking about in your next update.

 

[MarbleBob]

I'm a little late, but joining in from your PTR! Looks like your TR is off to a great start! I loved the YouTube video and looking at the pics that you took from your morning walk. Port Orleans is an awesome resort, and now I'm very much wanting to have some of those beignets!

 

[JPFamilyMom]

sounds like a nice relaxing day.

And I totally get the sock expense. on our first ever trip (honeymoon), we had to buy my husband not only socks but shoes (just to finish our day and get back to hotel). He made the mistake of buying and wearing some new sandals, and his feet were killing him.

beignets, yummmmmmmmm

I think I know the walls you are talking about too

 

[waltsdream]

Hi there from another Sara!

I've really enjoyed your TR so far. Those beignets look so delicious!! I've always wanted to try them at WDW but just never happen to be in the POR area. It's on my disney bucket list though. I also love that your son tried to replicate the Princess and the Frog scene!

I'm so glad you had some really positive CM experiences. It is so nice to take the time and talk with them - they all have such interesting stories and are so friendly. On our trip last month I stopped and chatted with all the CMs I noticed were from my home state, and it was a nice common link!

I subscribed and I really look forward to the rest of your TR!

 

[waltsdream]

I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan and couldn't wait to name my daughter Lorelai!

Sorry for the double post but I just read this - this is awesome! I was wondering when reading your TR if GG had inspired your daughter's name. It's a beautiful name and I'm a huge GG fan also!

 

[amberg93]

Mornings alone just walking around are great. And I'm glad that you meant some nice CMs during that time.

Ooh what a fun thing to do, rent the bikes and ride around.

Of course it's lunch

Agree to disagree about POFQ not being prettier than POR

And hey you've got to do what you've got to do when it comes to the socks.

 

[PrncessA]

Great updates Sara! Love your pics of POR and POFQ. Makes me want to go back again! We loved the beignets at POFQ.

Yumm beignets!! I am sitting on pins and needles waiting for the 2015 pricing to come out and POR is on our potential list.

Great update, Sara.

I am not a morning person either. Just ask my husband. You would think by now my oldest son would have learned NOT to talk to me until I 've had my coffee!

A little pool time, a bike ride, some lunch and a rest...sounds like a perfect, lazy day to me (I can't remember the last time I was on a bike...I don't think I want to either). I'm with your DS...I did NOT like the beignets either. But that sandwich hubby got looks really yummy.

Oh, I know what walls you are talking about in your next update.

Something about being at Disney made waking up in the morning enjoyable! Normally I don't talk to anyone until I have made it to my coffee machine in the mornings either.

It was a perfectly relaxing way to start our stay! Although from now on we might put that in the middle of the trip, when we need rest. Ethan had a few very good laughs at my expense while we were riding the bikes.

The dreaded walls! I was "knew" that they would be there, but holey moley it was crazy!

I'm a little late, but joining in from your PTR! Looks like your TR is off to a great start! I loved the YouTube video and looking at the pics that you took from your morning walk. Port Orleans is an awesome resort, and now I'm very much wanting to have some of those beignets!

So glad you came over! I am enjoying your TR as well!

sounds like a nice relaxing day.

And I totally get the sock expense. on our first ever trip (honeymoon), we had to buy my husband not only socks but shoes (just to finish our day and get back to hotel). He made the mistake of buying and wearing some new sandals, and his feet were killing him.

beignets, yummmmmmmmm

I think I know the walls you are talking about too

Relaxing isn't what you normally think about when you say Disney World either!

I tried to make the kids wear in their shoes before we went but they wanted to "save them for Disney" so their Crocs were worn most of the time, and even then we had a few blisters.

 

[PrncessA]

Hi there from another Sara!

I've really enjoyed your TR so far. Those beignets look so delicious!! I've always wanted to try them at WDW but just never happen to be in the POR area. It's on my disney bucket list though. I also love that your son tried to replicate the Princess and the Frog scene!

I'm so glad you had some really positive CM experiences. It is so nice to take the time and talk with them - they all have such interesting stories and are so friendly. On our trip last month I stopped and chatted with all the CMs I noticed were from my home state, and it was a nice common link!

I subscribed and I really look forward to the rest of your TR!

Hi Sara!

I love Disney Bucket Lists!!

E is a hoot!

We had a really good time talking with the CMs and we seemed to meet a lot from our area, so that was cool. We meet one CM at Cape May who we hope to keep visiting, she was such a sweetheart and had some great stories.

Sorry for the double post but I just read this - this is awesome! I was wondering when reading your TR if GG had inspired your daughter's name. It's a beautiful name and I'm a huge GG fan also!

The name fits her to a T as well!

Mornings alone just walking around are great. And I'm glad that you meant some nice CMs during that time.

Ooh what a fun thing to do, rent the bikes and ride around.

Of course it's lunch

Agree to disagree about POFQ not being prettier than POR

And hey you've got to do what you've got to do when it comes to the socks.

What qualifies as a meal at Disney is part of the fun right!

I think that part of the genius of Disney is their ability to have created so many uniquely themed resorts. Everyone has a different sense of beauty or what they want from a resort and Disney has something for everyone.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

loved your updates - think your son has coped remarkably well with his change of routine so far. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip

 

[Mrs. Gumdrop]

Loving your trip report! Your kids are so adorable. I can't wait to see what adventures your family gets up to.

 

[AlyssinWonderland]

Great Trip report so far! I'm enjoying it! Subscribing!

 

[mousekatool]

Just had to comment- i totally feel your pain regarding your kids and the mornings. My ADHD daughter is exactly like your son- mornings and evenings after her meds have worn off are the prime times for sibling spats and excessive drama. We have a short acting stimulant she can take at night if she needs it, but the mornings are definitely the worst.

Your pictures are gorgeous! I'm looking forward to more of your report,

 

[PrncessA]

loved your updates - think your son has coped remarkably well with his change of routine so far. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip

He had his moments, but he did try very hard as well. Sometimes it was us adults that had more problems!

Thanks for joining in!

Loving your trip report! Your kids are so adorable. I can't wait to see what adventures your family gets up to.

We do get into some adventures! Our 3am MK run was a great adventure!!

Great Trip report so far! I'm enjoying it! Subscribing!

Thanks for joining along!

Just had to comment- i totally feel your pain regarding your kids and the mornings. My ADHD daughter is exactly like your son- mornings and evenings after her meds have worn off are the prime times for sibling spats and excessive drama. We have a short acting stimulant she can take at night if she needs it, but the mornings are definitely the worst.

Your pictures are gorgeous! I'm looking forward to more of your report,

E is at camp this week and it is so quiet around our house it is almost eerie!!

We do have a short acting medicine that we use the same way as well, but as I am sure you know long over stimulated days and ADHD don't always mix. Disney was a blessing for him being able to just relax, but so much going on made it difficult as well.

I am so glad you are joining in!

 

[PrncessA]

This is a two day update, I really wanted to post yesterday, but life is just so busy! I just finished a 7 page report for one of my summer classes that is due today, and I managed to even integrate Disney into that! I have to present it on Wednesday to the class… I am not looking forward to that.

This morning I sent Ethan off to summer camp in Wisconsin 6.5 hours away from me! It wasn’t as hard as last year to say goodbye since I know he will be okay, but is scary to let him go that far away! We are heading up to visit him on Friday and then he is picked up on Saturday. I have no idea how I am going to handle both kids going next year and then Ethan going for two weeks the year after that! They are growing up too fast! Here is a photo of E and his friends on the bus getting ready to leave:



I also ordered and picked up 300 photo prints to add to our Disney Photo album this morning!! I know what I am doing tonight!

When last we left off I had successfully navigated my first bike ride in many many years, yummy POFQ food was eaten and we were ready for our next adventure.

We made it back to our room at about 1:30, and after some showers and fresh clothes and air conditioning we all felt refreshed and ready to go! I am really bad at remembering what time we did things, unless it was a scheduled ADR. We headed out to catch the POR ferry to DTD, which is a big plus to POR.





There wasn’t a very long line (maybe 10 people) and a boat pulled up pretty quickly, so we had timing on our side. It was very nice relaxing ride from POR to DTD and the Disney geek in me loved seeing the Treehouse Villas!

As we were coming up to DTD I was shocked at amount of construction being done! I knew about the construction in DTD, but I didn’t actually picture it and the effect it would have on our DTD experience. I am sure it will be great when it is finished, but it just looks awful right now with construction walls everywhere! We docked at the Pleasure Island dock, is it still referred to as PI? Our boat captain called it PI, so we will go with that. You would think as much as I am talking about it I would have taken some photos, but I didn't. After docking us along with what now felt like a million other people were herded up into DTD between the walls in what felt like cattle herding! It wasn't fun or scenic!

Finally we made it out of the crowd and found ourselves outside Raglan Road and I had to get a picture of the kids to compare with our picture from 5 years ago.

2009


2014


We fought the crowd (which at this point wasn’t completely oppressive) and finally made it to our intended destination. It was HOT out so while the kids played, Erik and I took turns touring the inside of the Lego store and standing in front of the giant fan they had.





Eventually the kids were ready to explore the inside as well which meant we could both stand in front of the fan!





We have a Lego store near us that we visit fairly regularly, but I had been putting off the item that the kids had been asking for, until the trip. They wanted some new Lego people, so they set to making them:



Luckily the Lego people station was next to the giant fan, which allowed us to be a bit more liberal with the kids’ time than we would have been normally! While we were waiting Erik spotted what he called a hidden Mickey.



After our Lego adventure we headed over to every Disney fans dream store, World of Disney. We spent quite a bit of time in this store looking around. Lorelai had decided that she just HAD to have a Minnie Ear headband, and proceeded to try on everyone they had!







This was her final choice after a lot of deliberating!



I ended up buying the sparkly ones for me!



What everyone needs... a Mickey backscratcher!!

















We also broke down and picked up E’s $17 socks and Erik found a hat that he really liked. Ethan spent a lot of time campaigning for a Buzz Lightyear action figure, and was very upset about leaving it behind. We made a deal with the kids when we left that they would be allowed one large toy souvenir of their choice (within reason), but we would not buy it until our last day, so they would know their options. This placated them a bit. We made it well over whatever the spending amount was to buy the discounted backpack, so we bought that as well. Why not right?

After WoD we made a very quick stop in the Christmas shop, but the kids were ready to eat and were getting antsy. I didn’t spend long enough looking for “just the right ornament” and we ended up getting one that I don’t love now. We ordered our name painted on it and shipped to the Yacht Club. Now that we are home, I ended up buying the 2014 Small World ornament and having it shipped to me.

After leaving the Christmas shop, we hightailed it across DTD, racing the rain shower that was about to start, to head to the meal the kids were the most excited about…

continued in next post

 

[PrncessA]

T-Rex Cafe!



We checked in and the line was out of the building waiting for names to be called, but right as it started raining and they were moving the check-in kiosk inside, our name was called. I would say it was less than a 5 minute wait, which was amazing!

We walked through the ice cave but were seat right outside of it, which was a little disappointing for the kids. When we go next time we will request the ice cave for them.





We had used credit card points for T-Rex gift cards and we had a $25 reward certificate so the meal was covered, more on that later. After some sugar rushed through the kids and a margarita and mojito for me and Erik, we were feeling a bit better!







Ethan ordered an order of mozzarella sticks which he devoured. Don’t stand between the boy and fried cheese let me tell you!



Lorelai ordered the pasta, which she picked at, which is normal for her.



Erik ordered the fish and chips, which he really liked, but it is hard to mess up fish and chips.



And I ordered the tortellini, which was amazing! I did not have high hopes for this meal going in, since I am not a fan of the Rainforest Café (even though we go all the time), but I was pleasantly surprised by the pasta.



I had forgotten our rewards card a home, so a manager came over and took my phone number to give me a temporary card and confirm that I had a $25 reward on my card. I didn’t pay close enough attention to the bill and I thought the total that was given was after the $25 was deducted, and added it back in to total the tip and then just rounded back up to finish out the last gift card which gave our waitress, who was very good BTW, about a 25% tip. After I got home I was looking at the receipt and I am pretty sure that there was a balance left on the gift card of about $25 since the reward wasn’t already take off, and our waitress got a VERY large % tip. I left the gift cards with the bill so I am not sure if there is anything we can do about it now.

We set through maybe 2-3 meteor showers which was fun. All in all it was great meal from beginning to end, even with the gift card snafu. We will definitely be back to T-Rex on our next trip! I know that we paused in the ice cave to take a photo of the kids, but I can’t find it anywhere in my photos, so I guess it is gone.

After our dinner the kids were very excited about what came next! Both of the kids LOVE stuffed animals. They have WAY too many of them and they especially love Build-a-Bear! Between a reward promotion and Costco I was able to save a bit on this souvenir!

The Build-a-Dino area at T-Rex is very small, but they have enough cast members directing the flow of traffic that it didn’t feel too cramped. The kids picked out their dinos very quickly, and they both actually picked out triceratops dinos (green and pink). I joked with the CM about how many people’s photos she was the star in, she said it was probably in the thousands. The kids hate those big boxes that the Build-a-Bears come in, so they declined the one here as well. Here is our process and the results:















Our plan had been to head over to Goofy’s Candy Shop and Ghirardelli’s to pick up some dessert, but DTD was getting super crowded and us adults were stuffed. That wasn’t a problem for the kids and they were insistent of Goofy’s! We did peek into Ghirardelli’s and it was packed so we passed.



After a lot of debate Lorelai decided on a giant sucker and E went with a small bag that he put a variety of candy in from the wall of candy. DH and I both picked up waters and we grabbed a small table outside of Goofy’s to relax for a few minutes. I am really excited to visit DTD after the construction is finished and the entire place is opened, right now it is just a crowded mess!!!

After our break we started our trek through the crazy crowd and back to the boat to POR. It was so crowded and the walls really make you feel trapped… it wasn’t a fun walk back to the boat, but it was nice to be able to know that we had a relaxing boat ride back to POR. The ride was relaxing and we had big plans for after we got back!

After arriving back at POR we headed to our room to freshen up a bit, but it was already almost 8:00 so we hurried back out to the River Roost Lounge, our mission to get a table to see YeeHa Bob and hopefully get to meet him before his show!

When we arrived at the RRL it was already pretty packed! We were able to get a table, but it wasn’t as close as I would have liked. Bob was making the rounds and eventually made his way over to our table where he assured Lorelai that “Let It Go” was on his playlist and got her assurance that she would help him out with some songs that night! He was a hoot!

We let the kids order the Buzz and Tinkerbell punches, which neither of them liked all that much but they did love their light up toys! I ordered a sangria and Erik ordered a beer, not sure what kind. Maybe it shows in the photos. We also added an order of the nachos a bit later and boy were they awesome! It was a huge portion and yummy!!!










But we weren’t here for the food and drinks, we were here for Bob!



It took a little bit for Ethan to get into the show, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but by the end he was loving it as well. Lorelai was having a blast; she went up to the front every time she could and I even joined her for a song, but I can’t for the life of me remember what is was. I do however remember that he had all the girls doing leg kicks during the song. The entire family thoroughly enjoyed the entire performance, and it is now on our “must do every trip” list! If you haven't watched Bob perform live, check him out on YouTube!

About 10-15 minutes before Bob was finishing up I thought I had recognized someone standing at the bar right behind our table, but I wasn’t sure. I was almost certain it was Alan (alan_renfroe) but he was alone, and I just wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to be the crazy lady who went up to random strangers asking them if their name was Alan! I considered pulling out my phone and pulling up FB and comparing the two, but then I would have really felt crazy! By the time I told Erik that I thought I knew the guy at the bar, he was gone, which made my husband think I was crazy. I’m telling you the entire experience made me feel a little crazy! I am happy to say the rest of my random Dis meets on this trip fare a little better!

We considered sticking around to get our photos taken with Bob, but the line was long so we headed out and back to our room. Everyone was ready for bed very quickly, but me of course because I needed to pull out anything we would need the next day and pack up for our move to the YC the next day!

Thus ends our first day at Walt Disney World. It was completely filled from morning to night and we didn’t even step inside a park! I can see why people say you could stay at Disney World for a month and not experience everything it has to offer!

Next up: The kids set sail and Disney sprinkles Pixie Dust on our family!!!