Around 1994 or so, I had a boyfriend who had grown up in a big Disney-fan family. We were young and broke at the time, but I put together a surprise Disney trip for his Birthday: Motel-6 on 192, Florida Resident day passes for MK. (I think we only went the one day because that was all we could afford).
As I mentioned, he was a total Disney freak - despite living 3 hrs away, I had no idea there were any hotels at Disney other than the Contemporary. I was just clueless. On our cheapo trip, he showed me around some of the resorts - the Swan & Dolphin (I was totally overwhelmed), and best of all - Port Orleans. I'm a big New Orleans/French Quarter person (was even more so back then), and I just couldn't believe this resort existed. I was totally blown away. I figured I'd never be able to afford to stay on-site but I was still completely entranced.
I didn't get to stay there until September 1997 (with a different boyfriend, we both had good-paying jobs). I was still pretty clueless - I booked a package deal via MKC, didn't realize it would have been cheaper to go "room-only" with Florida Res discounts. But anyway, I loved it... I loved using the onsite transportation (boats to Downtown!), loved the theming, loved the food court.
I've stayed at every mod except Carribean now at least twice, and Port Orleans (what is now known as FQ) is still my favorite, and my heart is broken that we cannot stay there for a big trip coming up in September.
I'll never forget the feeling of discovering the on-site resorts by *walking into them* without even previously knowing they existed. Much different experience, I think, than having found them on the Web and looking at photos for months ahead of time.
