WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY...POR Sept. 2006

[lexmelinda]

Back in the day...

Back before the dawn of time in the spring of 1972, two crazy moms took four rowdy kids to Disney World in a Volkswagen Beetle. I was one of those kids and I was 9 years old. We had Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass on the mini 8-track and I was wearing red/white/blue wide striped bell bottoms with my Mickey sweatshirt. I remember we slept in shifts with three kids in the back seat and one kid in the lap of the mom who wasn’t driving. I’m fairly certain that this trip would now be illegal in all 50 states due to seat belt laws. My memories of the actual visit to the Magic Kingdom are vague….tree house, small world, complicated ticket book, castle, submarine, flying over London, but no big rides. My mother is afraid of the rides and I’m sure she would never have let us ride the biggies without her.

Flash forward to May 1988…..I finally graduate from college and my boyfriend wins a raffle! Grand prize is a $2,000 vacation. The travel agent wants us to take a “package” not a pieced together flight/hotel trip and we choose a cruise/Disney World package. So we fly to Florida, spend the weekend in Cocoa Beach, get married on Merritt Island, hop on the cruise ship. Did you catch that? We eloped on our free trip to Disney....there will be a quiz later. We spend 4 food-filled and slightly queasy nights onboard the Premier cruise ship (the “official” cruise line of Walt Disney World), and then three nights WAY off site in Orlando. Again the trips to the parks are hazy in my memory…ride a few minor rides and walk around the world showcase. When we get home I drive to my mother’s house to tell her I’m married….but that’s another trip report entirely.

Flash forward again to the year 2000…it’s time to take the kids to Disney World. Our two daughters, Mimi and Emily, are now 10 and 6 years old. Everyone is tall enough to ride the rides and ambulatory so no stroller is required. I booked on-site at the All Stars and start my planning by buying the unofficial guide which I commit to memory. This time I’m buying ponchos and planning park tours. However two days before we depart, my sister-in-law announces she’s coming along. We love her and she’s going through a devastating divorce so we acquiesce. We have to rebook the hotel but it’s spring break and the All Stars are full. The only hotel we can book to get adjoining rooms without losing our deposit is the Hotel Royal Plaza near Downtown Disney. It’s about 50% more than our room at the All Stars but we take it. On check in, we find that our lovely adjoining rooms have an intimate sight/sound connection with the parking lot and I-4. The bus service to the parks is terrible and my sister in law is fun but not about touring plans and getting kids to bed in a timely manner. Overall a good trip but I am 5 months pregnant on this trip and I do not ride the headliner rides…again. The new millennium begins a new era for our family when our son is born in July and in October my husband buys the business where he has worked for 20 years.

Flash forward to late March 2006…..We are at my mother’s house and my 6 year old niece tells me about her trip to Disney World. The wheels start to turn…our son is almost 6 and he’s never been to Disney World….the girls would probably like to go again…it’s time for a vacation…we haven’t been on a family vacation since 2002 because my husband is so busy at work. I get on the internet and look at mousesavers.com. There’s some free dining thing that’s just been announced….begin booking in April for this fabulous package. Now I remember the cost of food at Disney World and this seems too good to be true. Would they really let us book a room for five people and feed us that expensive Disney food for free? I think about it, talk to my husband about it, pray about it, talk to a few friends about it, price it on the Disney site, and then…book it! I begin doing what I do best these days…research my questions on the internet. Within a couple of days I discover the DIS and begin lurking as the brave newbies who post questions get answers…I read; I learn; I book and rebook ADRs; I obsess. My now 16 year old daughter calls me a “forum addict”. I’m a little frightened and housekeeping goes downhill but still I continue to DIS and plan. I worry about the weather during hurricane season….I worry about pulling the kids out of school…I read and reread the district attendance policy. I buy new socks, ponchos, glow sticks, and mister fans. At long last, departure day arrives and watch out, people, because this time I’m riding the rides!

Thanks for bearing with me on the history bit. I am including my mostly obvious little do’s and don’ts possibly more for my benefit than for yours. Here are my next-trip notes……

DO….plan your trip early and watch out for discount codes and great package deals like free dining. Buy all the essentials you can carry with you unless it is a non-issue for you to pay premium Disney prices for stuff like band aids, glow necklaces, and ponchos. Make your ADRs as soon as you are inside the 180 day window or the 190 day window if you are staying on site and want to eat dinner anywhere in the range of 5:30—7:00pm. Always better to have the reservations and not want them than to want them and not have them. This seems especially true for popular events such as pirate cruises, character meals, dinner shows, and tours.

DON’T…be uninformed! Research every detail. Surprises at Disney World aren’t always full of pixie dust. But then that’s why you’re here on the DIS so never mind!

 

[lexmelinda]

Departure from Home & Arrival at the World

We are set to depart as soon as the last child gets out of school at 4:00 pm on Friday, September 22nd. I fill up the car that morning for $1.95/gallon. I include this for posterity but thank goodness gas prices are $1/gallon lower than this time last month. We are packed but I leave work early that day and go pick up a couple of things at the grocery store (water bottles, snacks for the car, etc.) and then I begin to check and recheck that we have everything ready. I pick up my son from kindergarten and go home to wait for the girls. “Mom, are we going somewhere?” Now we have not told the little man we are going to Disney World. He has a Spongebob calendar hanging over his bed and he checks it obsessively. We count down the number of days for the pool to open, for school to start, for birthday parties, for movie premiers, and I simply could not face the thought of counting down those 150+ days til we leave for Disney World. “Yes, honey, we are going to stay in a hotel tonight.” YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! He could not be more thrilled. The girls arrive home and we wait…..and wait....until DH finally arrives home at 6:30 pm. Now I am a planner and I have booked a hotel somewhere south of Atlanta for tonight…a six hour drive from our house. When we pull out of town at 7:20 pm it is raining and almost dark.

The rain lets up a few miles down the road and I-75 is relatively clear and as slow traffic-wise as I have seen it. The kids fall asleep early and we arrive in McDonough, GA at 1:45 am. DS is thrilled to be at a hotel! Whoo-hoo! I sleep horribly and that little rooster inside my head crows every morning at 6:00 am with absolutely no regard for the time I went to bed. The kids and I wake early and go down to the lobby for muffins, hot chocolate, and coffee. It is a sunny, gorgeous day and we can appreciate that. It’s been 50ish and raining all week at home so we wake DH and hit the road again at 9:30 am. “Are we going home?” says DS. So cute. “No, honey, we are going to stay in a different hotel tonight….a better hotel." YYYAAAAYYY!

So we motor on down I-75. The kids get out the snacks and ask me to open a problematic juice box. I have to use some force and then…presto…red juice box geyser. Can someone tell me why they bother to put food coloring in juice boxes? What mother or child has not been a victim to the juice box fountain at one time or another. Did I mention that I’m wearing white pants? Anyway, after a quick stop in Valdosta for lunch, we are back on 75 and soon we are almost at the Florida Turnpike in billboard alley. There are billboards for attractions, realtors, hotels, even a store in Michigan that has a web site but my favorite has to be…”WE BARE ALL”…..and underneath that “Great Food!” Now are people really going there for the food? Does anyone actually use that as an excuse? Discuss amongst yourselves.

We are now in the Turnpike Time Warp….so close, yet so far. If you’ve driven to Disney World, you know of what I speak. It seems to take hours to drive down the turnpike but then we finally see the end in sight…State Road 429 to Tampa? Yes, it is apparently a new road that leads to Disney World on the west side of the property. (Thank you, Praying Colonel, for this advice.) Signs do not identify this as being a road that leads to Disney. If you need to use the bathroom or get gas or food, this road is not for you. It is deserted….we see only 4 or 5 cars max at any given time during the 14 mile drive to the Disney arches. Do people not know where this road goes or are they afraid it’s still unfinished? We get off the deserted exit and there, just a few hundred feet away, are the Disney arches. Now my little guy can’t read but apparently every child in the free world can identify the words “Walt Disney World” when they are written in that magical Disney script and DS is no exception. As we get closer, he points and yells “HEY, THAT’S DISNEY WORLD!!!!” His mouth is hanging open and he is in total shock. He can barely sit still. Mission accomplished.

We enter the World via Western Way which is not on the map in the 2006 unofficial guide. It hits Buena Vista Dr between the Coronado Springs and the Animal Kingdom. Now signage at Disney World is VERY good and it has to be. It’s not like you can ask someone directions and they’ll say “Just take a right when you get to the Walgreens” because all Disney roads look the same….no WE BARE ALL billboards or strip malls….just road, trees, and purple signs. I know we should have arrived earlier but we finally get to Port Orleans Riverside at around 5:00 pm. The guard house cop confirms our identity, tells us “Welcome home” and waves us through. Nice.

We pull up to the front and I leave DH and the girls to deal with bell services while James and I go to registration. No line at registration. Fabulous! We are called right over by the nice registration CM. Let’s call her Sally Jessie Helpershoes due to her red rimmed glasses. She is lovely and delightful in every way. She gives DS some stickers and a coloring book. Then she gets down to business and says “I see you’ve requested a smoking room.” Ummmmm, no, we didn’t request a smoking room. Oh, she tells me that she sees it’s because I requested Building 18 in the Alligator Bayou section that we received this room. Well, no other rooms available in Building 18. She can put us somewhere else. Likely over in BFE, I think to myself. I tell her we’ll stick with the smoking room and she suggests that if we don’t like it, they can still move us tomorrow. Alrighty, then. She gives me 437 documents, I sign my life away, she hands me our keys to the world and we are outta there. I glance at bell services and wonder if Flo Summerteeth is working today and whether or not she’d like to tell me where to go.

We park where Sally Jessie suggested and go to find Building 18. I requested Building 18 because, as you know, I have done my research and I know that 18 is not in close proximity to the parking lot or a road of any kind and I like it like that. Now I have viewed the slide show of POR on allearsnet and I have poured over the map of the property but I suppose I was not prepared for the shear size of the buildings at the resort. Building 18 is actually larger than the entire hotel where we spent the previous night. It has something like 75 rooms and as we near the building I begin to look through my 437 documents for something with the room number on it. Nope. Nope. Not on the key to the world. Nowhere. Sally Jessie had not given us a room number. We just want to get to the room. We are tired, road worn, and frustrated. Aha, we find a number for the front desk and call them. After several questions to confirm our identity, they direct us to room 1849 and we begin to search the maze that is Building 18 for our new home. At last we locate the room and it is…..paradise. It’s a corner room (with two windows) overlooking the Sassagoula River. We had not paid for a water view, and it was an unexpected upgrade that Sally Jessie neglected to mention when I was arguing with her about the room. We are home for the week! We quickly unpack and we’re off to the world…

Here are the pictures of the view from room 1849 at POR. I stood outside with my back against both windows to take these pictures so I'd always remember and never forget.......

DO…take State Road 429 off the Florida Turnpike if you are driving to Disney World from the north. Trust me on this one. It’s shorter, simpler, and provides the added bonus of NOT having to drive by the Nick Hotel if you have any little Nickelodeon traitors in your midst. Research your resort and know the layout. Make sure you keep your room requests simple and specific. I requested Building 18 and near the food court. Leave your credit card number with the registration clerk when you check in. Don’t be afraid. You can charge all on-site purchases so you don’t have to carry so much cash. They will put a spending cap on it for you if you ask. All purchases will be charged to your room and an envelope with a receipt of your purchases will be left on the door the morning of your departure. With the credit card on file you never have to go back to registration to check out. Just be out of your room by 11:00 am and take your keys to the world with you for your scrapbook!

DON’T…leave the front desk without your room number when you check in!

 

[ampc3]

Looking forward to hearing more,, by the way you all stayed where we live now, I would have left the porch light on if I knew you where coming! lol

 

[GADisneyDVC]

Sounds like a great trip so far. I can't wait to hear more!! That is so cool that you surprised your son! I wish I could do that. I think my mouth is too big though!!

 

[OhMari]

Back in the day...

DO….plan your trip early and watch out for discount codes and great package deals like free dining. Buy all the essentials you can carry with you unless it is a non-issue for you to pay premium Disney prices for stuff like band aids, glow necklaces, and ponchos. Make your ADRs as soon as you are inside the 180 day window or the 190 day window if you are staying on site and want to eat dinner anywhere in the range of 5:30—7:00pm. Always better to have the reservations and not want them than to want them and not have them. This seems especially true for popular events such as pirate cruises, character meals, dinner shows, and tours.

QUOTE]

I thought you can't book any ADR's until the 180 window, what is open for the 190 window?

 

[teentoddlermom]

Great report and format! I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of the trip! Did you pull your kids out of school?

 

[goofyfan-12]

Great report so far... can't wait to hear more...

Hope you get to ride the big rides this time...

 

[SamIAm21]

I'm hooked, line and sinker! I can't believe you were able to surprise your son like that. Although I totally understand why, I just can't believe you did it! I can't keep secrets real well...

Keep the report coming and congratulations on the great room location!!

 

[lexmelinda]

I thought you can't book any ADR's until the 180 window, what is open for the 190 window?

If you have on-site hotel reservations you can make dinner reservations (ADRs) 180 days from the first day of your vacation to the last day for up to 10 days if you're lucky enough to stay for 10 days which would actually be 190 days in advance. Does that make sense? I believe some of the dinner shows ADRs can actually be made 365 days in advance but I'd have to check my UG to see which ones. Thanks for reading, everyone!

 

[novdisneydreams]

Great Report I can't believe your DS didn't find out until you got there! I also can't believe that your DDs didn't tell him! Waiting for more ...

 

[lexmelinda]

Did you pull your kids out of school?

Yes, we did! Before I booked the trip in April I pulled up the school calendar for 06-07 and found a week during free dining when the kids had a day off school so they really only missed four days. My husband works so much and my oldest daughter is a junior in high school. We figured that if we didn't go this year, we might not get another chance. We really needed the family time and that's what's important in the long run.

 

[Scutapipig]

There are billboards for attractions, realtors, hotels, even a store in Michigan that has a web site but my favorite has to be…”WE BARE ALL”…..and underneath that “Great Food!”

I had to laugh at this. First, we actually know and have visited that store in Michigan and it's quite a store! Second, we've noticed those "We Bare All" billboards ourselves and my husband's response was, "Just how bad do the girls in there look if they have to advertise food?!"

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

Post More!!! I just came across your report and it was great. I loved how excited your son was. I wish I could keep the secret from my kids that we are going but I always tell them right away.

 

[BeautyNBeast]

Great Trip Report so far Cannot wait to hear more

 

[ClaraBug]

like a good book, can't put it down.

 

[dandee00]

Looks like a lovely resort. You had a great view. Never considered this resort...until now.

 

[SamIAm21]

waiting, waiting, very patiently, but if you are going to be such a good writer, you can't leave everyone hanging like this!

I'll just dance around for a while, as I wait!!

 

[PrincessV]

Uh-oh... I think I'm hooked. And, just last night, I promised myself: "Self, NO NEW TRIP REPORTS until your own and the other 28 you've subscribed to are done." We DISers never listen, do we?
Looking forward to more!

 

[lexmelinda]

THE MAGIC KINGDOM AT LAST…
We head to the Magic Kingdom via POR bus. We figure out that there are two bus platforms (shelters) and that you have to check the signage and be at the right one to get to the park of your choice. We used the south depot which is nearest to our room according to Sally Jessie.

The bus to the Magic Kingdom arrives soon and we are off to see Spectromagic. It’s about 6:30 when we arrive and the park is crowded! Ms. Helpershoes had mentioned that it was Florida Residents’ Weekend…so there you go. We see the castle at last! DS is fascinated and dying to go in but we are all starving and head to Pecos Bill’s. Disney has been kind enough to provide my favorite meal every night this week. It’s the favorite meal of moms everywhere…a free dinner that I did not prepare! Yummmm......

Pecos Bill’s is busy and we wait in line for some time but finally get our dinner. Now because I DIS I know that we can carry our trays down the way and over by the Magic Carpets/Tiki Room to eat. The tables there are empty, it’s relatively quiet and we sit down. Wow, the chicken wrap is delicious but alas DS is hit by a sudden and severe stomach pain. I say what any good mother would say, “Maybe you need to go to the bathroom.” I drag/carry him to the bathroom and he may be feeling a little better afterward, although not well enough to eat anything. Emily is finished eating and my sweet girl offers to take her brother over to ride the rugs. They don’t wait long; they ride; they get spit on by the camel; it’s all good.

It’s time to head back over to see the parade by the Country Bears. We stand behind the folks who are at the rope and a nice mom asks DS to pull up some curb by the rope next to her. Sweet. I get out the glow necklaces and everybody’s happy.

Now I have never seen Spectromagic but it is FABULOUS….the music, the floats, the characters. I must say however that the Spectro Men are a little creepy in a scary-clown-sort-of-way but they are part of the magic nevertheless. Mimi is a budding photographer and is snapping pictures left and right. She looks at me with pure joy and says, “This is, like, the best parade EVER!” I smile and agree. I have to say it’s difficult to capture the beauty of Spectro in 2-D but here are a couple of her fab photos…

Parade is over…….bummer. But the stomach ache is BACK with a vengeance. The plan is to head out immediately after Spectro and not stay for Wishes on this night due to the crowds. So I pick up the little man and I use this term very loosely because he is heavy. Let’s see…he weighs 52 pounds and I’m 43 so by the time we get to Casey’s he actually weighs about 95! Thank goodness DH takes him and carries him the rest of the way almost to the bus stop where he is forced to walk.

AAAHHHH, the POR line is the longest visible line at the stop. The bus is there but we do not make it on. Wishes begins and although we cannot see the castle from the bus stop, we have an unobstructed view of the fireworks and they are beautiful! Finally the bus comes and we get a seat. I see the girls get up to offer their seats to parents carrying their babies. I even see them offering their glow necklaces to the small children nearby. My mothering skills are affirmed. Life is good.

Tomorrow…big rides at MGM!

DON’T…MISS SPECTROMAGIC on your first night if possible! It’s all that and a bag of chips.

DO…get to the bus stop before Wishes if it’s a Saturday. Stay for Wishes on a week night when the crowds are smaller.

 

[kaw1218]

Ok, you totally have me hooked....... and now I am late for work

Great TR!