WE SAW IT, WE CONQUERED IT, WE ATE IT. Tons of pics! Just Updated 10/22!

[nurseypoo5]

Not the keys to the kingdom, but still so special to us, all of our first trip to disney!

we spent 8 nights at POR, and 7 nights on Siesta Key Fl. We had a fabulous time!


Let me start at the beginning, but first let me introduce ourselves.

Liz, me, myself and I…a Disney virgin but a huge planner. I’m 41 (turn 42 on this trip) I spent almost every waking hour since January planning, reading about and doing research on, our trip. I also over packed…as did everyone else.

Terry, DH, age 40, a Disney non planner to the extreme, a major “fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy” He’s the one who would have had to eat CS meals because he wouldn’t have known to get ADR’s. He is a very sweet man who gets just as excited as my son about vacations.

Kelly, DD, age 22. She has recently moved back home after a sketchy start on her own…funny, when they leave we cry…when they come home…we cry hehehe. She is a big help and has always wanted to go to Disney when she was little, but we just never got to it.


Tyler, DS age 10 (turned 10 this last week, so he was the celebrating one in our family as I’m to old to be happy about my birthday anymore lol) He has ADHD…and sometimes makes us crazy but he is my baby. If anyone was there and heard me yell STOP THAT TYLER, or YOU BETTER SHUT IT NOW OR ELSE…or IF YOU DO THAT ONE MORE TIME…well…that was me, and I apologize. He was excited about Disney but more so about Coral Reef and the beach trip after our Disney adventure.

Now on with my trip report...

Sept 30th. 4:00 am

We waken up to go to the airport at 4am, our flight leaves at 7:30, and DFW requires a 2 hour window. DD’s lovely BF is housesitting and dogsitting and is our chauffeur. We took our 5 huge suitcases and our carry-ons and get to the airport get our boarding passes and board with no issues at all. Air Tran on departure was really great. My family of 4 did not get to sit together, but my DS and I did. My DH is a big man and wanted bulk head, my DD just cared about a window seat.

As your sifting through my HUGE AND WAY TOO MANY PHOTOS, PLEASE TAKE NOTE AS TO HOW MY FACE GETS FATTER AND FATTER...grrr

We arrive at MCO and picked up our Dollar rental van (485.00 for 15 days). We sent the kids on Magic Express with the luggage. We then proceeded to take a wrong turn and ended up 15 miles from Cocoa Beach. Don’t ask…it was down right embarrassing.

Anyway we arrived at POR and check in only took a few minutes. I requested and received Magnolia Terrace a court yard and side water view for no additional charge. Very nice. Our fridge didn’t work, but they remedied that quickly.

Off to Epcot!

Now you would think the first picture i would take in a disney park would be my kids, but no, that was second. A while back i saw a funny website on FUNNY/SCARY feet at Disney. There was a post a while back and it was hilarious. Something i saw as soon as i got off the tram reminded me of that website. I hope this woman isnt reading this.

For the love of God...why????? She will have blisters the size of small farm animals after half an hour!? Or atleast I would. I'd be keeping the moleskin company in business. Get this woman a pair of lime green CROCS PLEASE!

Second photos? What else? The obligatory "trying on funny hat picture"

Dinner!!! (the important stuff huh?)

Now this was the ONLY restaurant that made us wait more than 10 minutes the entire trip, we had to wait 45 minutes for our 6:10 adr's, which as you can see, we were not alone. Product of free dining? I know this is also the place we recieved the worst service from a waiter, not BAD per say, just very slow. NO WHERE DURING ANY MEAL DID WE EVER FEEL RUSHED ONE BIT, INFACT SOMETIMES WE WISH WE HAD BEEN RUSHED. (there i said it in caps, and it was true, never were we asked what appetizer we wanted and what our dessert would be at the same time).

Coral Reef, this was my sons choice as he loves everything ocean including eating the little boogers! I’ve been very nervous about this meal for all the mixed reviews, but I shouldn’t have been worried at all as it was fabulous.

For appetizers DD and I had Lobster Bisque and OMG IT WAS TO DIE FOR. Small bits of sweet lobster and a cheesy soup, it was so very good. This was one of the top 5 best things I ate all week. DH had shrimp cocktail and said this was just ok. It was served with asian noodles that just didn’t have the right flavor.

lobster bisque

shrimp cocktail

we liked this bread better than the bread at le cellier!

My DH and I had the Strip Steak which was extremely flavorful and cooked perfectly, very tender. A demi sauce that wasn’t over powering. I small amount of scalloped potatoes that were forgetful, but we ate them anyway All in all very good.

best steak of the week next to le cellier. In TX we call this a strip steak, not a sirloin as stated on the menu.

DD had shrimp pasta and didn’t like this. It was very bland, with little flavor and the shrimp was a bit on the fishy side.

this was not too good, just barely "ok"

DS was allowed to order off the kids menu (yes they knew he was 10, and they didn’t seem to care if we paid OOP for a kids meal even though he is on the adult dining plan, it was a non issue thing) He had kids Mahi Mahi which was very very plain and french fries that were ok.

this was ok, son wont eat veggies, and it came with brocolli, hey he was on vacation, he ate all of what was on his plate that wasnt green tho

Good table manners are always a must at fine dining establishments!

Dessert

chocolate wave, this was ok, but not my fave, to sweet for me, but good. notice the cookie was missing, but oh well

this was the pinapple cake, my DH liked it very much

my sons build a sundae

now we were celebrating two birthdays this week, mine and my DS's, and they had these adorable little menu's printed up for us waiting for us on our table. We were also seated infront of the tank, i suppose for the view of the diver. Loved it,even if mickey didnt dive




The big deal tho..isnt the food, not even the wonderful ambience (which was wonderful) but I had called ahead (learned this from other DIS’ers here) to get a diver to hold up a laminated sign saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER. He swam right to the window and held up the sign. OMG the look on my son’s face was priceless. He later came out of the tank to meet Tyler. He was very gracious.

this made my sons entire trip!!!


Coral reef. Food ***, Service ***, Ambience ****

We got out of dinner just intime to enjoy a wonderful view of the fireworks!

CMs teaching hula hooping, tho DS needs no lessons on that!

Gorgeous fireworks!

these were my fave fireworks, beating out wishes and fantasmic!


Coming up next..PART 2 Disney Novices…mini melt downs anyone?? Reviews of 50’s PT and WGP express.

 

[OhMari]

We then proceeded to take a wrong turn and ended up 15 miles from Cocoa Beach. Don’t ask…it was down right embarrassing.

Don't feel bad, I loose my sense of direction so easy. I used to be a great map reader, but my eyes are for some reason getting blury and I can't read maps anymore, (do ya thing it has anything to do with turning 40.)

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Good Start!

I loved the pic's of Coral Reef. And I was there the night you were....Sept 30th, right?

I think something was going on at CR that night. We had a 5-something ADR and it also took forever!

But it was my first time there, and food was indeed excellent. Agree with the service, but our waiter, Kevin was fantastic!

 

[nurseypoo5]

i'm such a goof, i forgot to put in the pictures part 2 coming up, but this new computer doesnt cooperate to much lol.

 

[daisy_77]

Hi! It sounds like you all had a great start! On your first day you already got pixie dusted by getting your requests at POR and the birthday surprises at Coral Reef!

I look forward to reading more!

 

[Goofster57]

Great Start, Looking forward to more.

 

[lucky978]

Nice job. Looking forward to part 2

 

[meloneyb21]

Great! Can't wait to read more.

 

[NewOrleansLady]

The big deal tho..isnt the food, not even the wonderful ambience (which was wonderful) but I had called ahead (learned this from other DIS’ers here) to get a diver to hold up a laminated sign saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER. He swam right to the window and held up the sign. OMG the look on my son’s face was priceless. He later came out of the tank to meet Tyler. He was very gracious.

That is awesome, I didn't know they would do that for you. I would have loved to seen his face! Talk about

 

[NurseW2Kiddies]

Love your trippie so far!!!!! Sounds like you had a great first trip!!!

 

[disneychickforever]

very cool. I'll have to come back later to look at the pictures, since I'm at school....(hey inbetween classes + no homework=DIS!)

 

[Poohbear77]

Lovin' the report. Can't wait for more!

 

[Silly Girl]

I'm so glad to see the diver/banner worked out for your son. I know the look on the face is priceless. It was definitely the hightlight of our trip as well. The picture is great (ours didn't turn out as good). This will be something he remembers forever. What a great memory!!!!

 

[julsmom]

Great pics!!

 

[nurseypoo5]

10/1/06

Well, after our first wondrous day at Disney we were so tired we fell into bed at POR. Thankfully we packed an air mattress. Having full sized beds were NOT magical! My son and I slept together instead of my DH…you know, trying to prevent black eyes, broken ribs, divorce.

Anyway, we were awoken to Mickey greeting us on the telephone, I loved putting it on speaker, however most days no one noticed Mickey at all because they are all snooze alarm programmed people. Anyway up at 6:30 so we can eat, dress and be at MGM by 8:30!

Here is where I say THANK GOD WE HAD A CAR! I know you CAN use the busing system at POR but….ugh. We parked pretty darn close to the front every day and were able to take a break in the afternoons without fighting long bus rides. If you have the extra money rent one, you won’t be sorry.

Ok…so OFF WE GO TO MGM!

Let me also say that this was my favorite park.
A. I LOVE Aerosmith. Did I say I? My sons name ain’t Tyler by accident. We rode Rock’N Rollercoaster 4 times.

B. We all loved Tower of Terror. We rode this 3 times.

C. Beauty and the Beast Show. Yup folks this was by far my fave show in the world.

On this beautiful Monday, MGM was great! It got a bit warmer this day than any other; I believe it hit around 95 degrees, with a bit of humidity. My son and DH took an afternoon break after MELTDOWN number 1 occurred today. More on that later lol.

We started at RNR and headed to TOT…and back and forth back and forth. There was not more than a 10 minute stand bye on either ride for the first hour. Probably all day. This was a great day to go to MGM.

hey its our ghetto way of buy a 20 dollar 5x7. I thought they CM was yelling at me to stop one time, but she then caught up to me and said "take the flash off or it wont take"..LMAO!

We went thru Tour Guide Mike, and not giving any secrets away, let me say he was right on the money. While the restaurants were packed due to the end of free dining, the crowds were very low.

We had an early lunch at 50’S PRIMETIME.

This was a very cute restaurant. My kids and DH loved the decorations. We requested Auntie Claire due to huge love for her here on the boards. She has been there for eons and even has a huge scrapbook. We didn’t get a prime table, but we got a prime server.

This was DS’s first sign of the impending meltdown that would occur later. I wanted him to share a meal with DD of fried chicken as both are light eaters, and order a side of fries. HOW DARE I SUGGEST THAT! So fine, he got a milkshake and funky chicken fingers off the kids menu that Aunt Claire let us pay OOP. DH got the Pot Roast and me and DD had the fried chicken. As far as the food goes this was probably the lowest of ratings on our trip, but do not get me wrong, it was still good, just not REALLY good. We started off with onion rings, fried cheese and shrimp cocktail, all of which was very good.

this was actually good, loved the collard greens, but on both our plates DD’s and mine, only one piece of chicken was crispy, the other a bit soggy.

DH liked this pot roast a lot. He cleaned his plate and was giving a “licked my plate clean” award and Auntie Claire made a huge and loud announcement that Cousin Terry cleaned his plate and the whole restaurant applauded. My hubby gets sooo embarrassed by things like singing waiters and stuff that this was priceless.

kids chicken nuggets

apple brown betty

this is the biggest smile of the lunch, beginning of the end of our day together. Sense it? I also believe Auntie Claire wasn’t as playful as she would have been for fear of making butthead ahem, I mean DS cry. Oh this is his birthday cupcake, for which he complained. Butthead.

brownies and ice-cream, what’s not to like?

s’mores these were ok, DD is a s’mores snob though.

Auntie Claire putting a bid on Kelly after she had a spill…naughty messy little girl.

Aunt Claire was awesome I highly recommend her!


Sometime around 3 pm we experienced meltdown number 1 of our trip. I promised not to take any more photos of our melt downs after this one, possible because taking the picture of the melt down made the melt down even worse? Yup, I believe that is what it is.

So the coveted Pluto was out signing autographs along with Goofy. Now the CM told me that Goofy is quite common, but not Pluto, and since he only had 10 minutes we should go for it, so into the line we go to wait for Pluto’s autograph.

Ummmmmm…..errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr……….hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I take my time with photos but com’on some people are downright character HOGS...oink. We had a couple in front of us with 5 kids. Each had to have an autograph, with a pic, ok, fine, but then they each had to do a pose, then a kiss, then a pic doing the kiss, redoing the kiss, the one that cried had to be consoled and “talked into “sitting with Pluto…then when she kept screaming Mom and Dad got in the pic with the screamer to shoot the pic, and get the 1 yr olds autograph from the Dog. Then after I swear 20 minutes, they did a group pic with more hugs etc. We were 2 people behind this menagerie. Of course as soon as the Griswold’s were done with Pluto the poor dog needed a doggy biscuit and a bowl of water so he split.

Melt down number 1. We had not waited in a single line all day, but we were hot, cranky and tired. DS waited 30 minutes for this dog without benefit of shade, just to be told no. I was upset. But he started crying. And crying. Oh…and by this time Goofy split too.

Now I’m not sure but the fact I started shooting pictures of my crying 10 yr old, well..again, not sure butttttt this could have made it worse.

So after this, and since DS had ridden everything and seen several shows, my DH offered to take him home while DD and I stayed to watch Beauty and the Beast and a few others. He said he would meet me later around 5:30 pm to ride a few more rides and get ready for Fantasmic!

Beauty and the Beast was by far my favorite thing at WDW (show wise)..

about an hour later DS rejoined us and we rode RNR and TOT a few more times and settled in for Fantasmic. I’m glad we did not buy the dinner package to fantasmic, as we had no issues getting a seat, even if you waited until 8pm.

Wolf Gang Pucks Express. Now don’t make our mistake, after a long day at MGM we were starving so I wanted to try WGPExp. We went to DTD and hiked to wgpexpress to find out they have 2 OF THEM. One express attached to the café (downstairs) and . another one in the Market place DTD. Very confusing. Make sure you go to Market Place if you are on DDP. The servers here deserve a small tip as they do bring out your dinner and refill your drink. My hubby left our server about 3 dollars (we refilled our own drinks tho..he just brought out our plate.) I dont think most people tip anything. Kinda like those girls at sonic

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla DH got this, but he was cranky LOL said it was just ok, heck I tasted it and it was wonderful. Remember this is CS with wait staff and glass plates. Gotta love that.

WP- Warm Chicken Aioli - Sliced chicken breast, melted provolone cheese, romaine lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cilantro aioli. This was delicious.

Margherita - The classic from Naples with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, tomato, fresh basil, and tomato-basil-garlic sauce. This was delicious!

DS was still cranky, so he didn’t eat much, but did get a kids chicken fingers. Remember I told you earlier that he is an adult, I had more trouble telling people to charge us for an adult than to let us pay OOP for a kids meal. I guess my guy is small, but wow just the opposite of what I thought would happen.

mashed potatoes with garlic butter. It was ok, I’m sure it would have been great with chicken, but as a side, it was just ok. I got it to try it due to rave reviews from DIS’ers. They didn’t charge me, I suppose it was late and they didn’t care lol. It was my free pixie dust so who am I to complain.

crème brulee. Didn’t enjoy this as much as I hoped. I like my brulee cold in the center and warm at the top. This was warm throughout.
luke

We got back to our rooms well after 10:45, so for DD and me it was a very long day! We all fell asleep immediately with happy thoughts of our day tomorrow at Epcot!

Coming next…Epcot…and Mom’s meltdown. Le Cellier and the margarita from hell.

 

[nurseypoo5]

I'm so glad to see the diver/banner worked out for your son. I know the look on the face is priceless. It was definitely the hightlight of our trip as well. The picture is great (ours didn't turn out as good). This will be something he remembers forever. What a great memory!!!!

i can never thank you enough! The whole place erupted into applause for my son..it was fabulous, and a great start to our trip!

 

[redheaded mama]

Great trip report.

Your making me hungry.

Love the pictures

 

[VanniGirl]

Great report - looking forward to the rest.

 

[First timer]

Love the report - awaiting the rest.

 

[nurseypoo5]

thank ya'll...i read the other reports and i dont think i can write as good as some but i'll try! I'll try to post a few more photos other than food lol. I am a foodie, and my big ole butt proves that! I gained a whopping 15lbs in 3 weeks! I have to restart my diet tomorrow! lol!