Trip Reports
02-08-2006, 08:03 AM
Time of Year: Holiday Season
Travel Method: Unknown
Resort: Port Orleans
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Unknown
Comments: Dave and his wife spent their honeymoon at Port Orleans in December 1995. They purchased a "Honeymoon Escape" package deal. Dave provides information on the resort as well as a day-by-day report of their park touring.
Howdy, all!
Well, as my way of saying "Thanks" for all the great hints and info I've received over the pas year or so from all the folks here, I thought I'd post a report on my honeymoon spent at WDW from Dec. 17-23. I'll start with some general impressions, then go on to a more detailed itinerary of how we spent our week.
First of all: We stayed at Port Orleans, and it was absolutely wonderful!! The worst thing that happened to us was that we had requested a king size bed in the room, and had to make due with 2 double beds. Oh well. We stayed in building 6, which was a ways from the lobby/food court/pool, but it wasn't that bad, maybe a 3 or 4 minute walk. We booked the "Honeymoon Escape" package, but I think if I was doing it over, I'd try to go more a la carte. The package gave us park admission, non-motorized recreational vehicle rental, a welcome basket, one dinner, and one breakfast. The basket was nothing special, just some soaps, bath oils, and such, the meals were nice, but we hardly used the boat rentals. I think, overall, we barely broke even with the package extras. If I were really trying to go budget, I could probably have gotten a better price and not felt as though I had missed something.
Bus service was fine, we had no problems except for one morning (see below). In general, it took about a half hour (from the time we arrived at the bus station) to get to any park, about 40 minutes to get to another resort (but we only tried to get to the monorail resorts around the Magic Kingdom). Bus service is the area where I would recommend Port Orleans over Dixie Landings. Since the busses stop at PO first, the folks from DL usually ended up standing for the ride to the parks, and also got dropped off last at the end of the day. I think this would have annoyed me if I were staying at DL.
Crowds were OK. They seemed to pick up towards the end of the week, as the Christmas crowd arrived. I don't think we ever waited more than a half hour to get in to any attraction.
Now, on to the details.....
Sun., 12/17: Arrived around 4pm. Got unpacked, and went over to Polynesian for the 6:45 Luau. Hung out on Polynesian beach until it was time for the luau to start. The luau was great! We really enjoyed both the food and the show.
Mon.: Early Entry at Magic Kingdom. Had an early breakfast at the Food Court. This was better than expected, a good way to start the day. Then to MK. Did Alien Encounter, Splash and Space Mountains. Alien Encounter was great! Left MK around 11 for Epcot. Noon reservations at Akershus. The restaurant was fairly empty, I don't think we needed the reservations. The food was marvelous. Friendly hint for all: don't schedule many all-you-can-eat meals consecutively. After an all-you-can-eat rehearsal dinner Friday night, the reception dinner Saturday, the luau Sunday, and Akershus Monday, we were darn near ready to explode. Don't let this happen to you. Plan your eating wisely. Anyway, we toured World Showcase for a bit, then decided we were too tired to continue. We returned to the hotel around 3 pm. My wife decided she was so tense from the wedding and all the excitement that she needed a massage, so she scheduled one over at the contemporary. While she went there, I got myself a canoe, and paddled around the river. Quite relaxing, and a rather enjoyable way to pass a bit of time. Got dinner at the Food Court around 8 pm. This was a mistake. It took us 30 minutes to get our food, as the place was rather crowded with families returning from the parks at this time. I believe we would have done better getting a sit-down meal at Bonfamilles. After dinner, we spent some time in the hot tub, then retired for the night.
Tues.: 9 am Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Although we didn't get to meet Mary Poppins, we did get to hang with Goofy and Pluto, who were positively phenomenal, the way they interacted with us at the table. This put us in a great frame of mind as we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Shortly after we arrived, a downpour began, so we bought a poncho and umbrella, and plunged onwards. We saw everything we wanted to see at the MK, then headed over to Epcot around 4. We did the wonders of life Pavilion and World of Motion then saw the tree lighting ceremony, which was quite nice. After this, we went back to World Showcase, and made our way counter-clockwise. We had a fast-food dinner in Japan, which was OK, nothing spectacular. We saw parts of the candlelight processional, but not enough to really be able to comment on the show. Holiday Illuminations was great, but somehow it didn't seem as special as the ordinary Illuminations I saw this past May.
Wed.: Early Entry at MGM, so we hit the food court about 6:45 for breakfast. Unfortunately, they don't start serving the real breakfast food until 7. Only the bakery is open before that , so we had to make do with bagels. Now, I know this isn't that big a hardship, but when I'm on vacation, I like a real hearty breakfast, so this was kind of a disappointment for me. Oh well. Rode Tower of Terror first thing, and thought it was amazing! Noontime lunch at the Sci-Fi, which was great, then went back to touring the studios. My wife, who is a real movie buff, really enjoyed this day, I think. Dinner was at the 50's Prime Time, and was another highlight of the trip. The folks next to us were trying to be troublemakers, so "Mom" mad one of them stand in the corner! The whole evening was an absolute hoot! we got back to the hotel around 7 or so, and my wife was exhausted. I, on the other hand, was still rarin' to go, so I took the boat ride to Pleasure Island, and had a wonderful time until about 11:00, when I headed back home.
Thurs.: Had 8:30 breakfast reservations at King Stefan's. On the whole, we didn't think this was as good as the Grand Florida. We didn't like the food as well, and while there were more characters, they didn't seem as lively as at the GAF. Peter Pan and Wend were the one exception to this rule, however, they deserve a special commendation for the witty banter they engaged in with us. It was nice to be able to talk to the characters, however, as most of the folks here were characters which didn't have to wear a head. In general, it was a kind hello from the character, snap a picture, then on to the next table. After breakfast, we spent a few hours shopping for souvenirs and gifts on Main Street, then went back to the hotel. We got a canoe and paddled around for a bit, then took the boat over to the Marketplace. We had dinner at the Fireworks Factory, which was excellent, then went into Pleasure Island. Saw the comedy warehouse show, which was absolutely hysterical, then went into the Adventurer's Club, and hung out there for a couple of hours. A truly wonderful evening.
Fri.: Breakfast at Bonfamilles-perfectly marvelous! I wish we had discovered this sooner! More relaxing than the food court, better food, and really not that much more expensive (I'll put a breakfast analysis at the end of the post to explain my point). After breakfast, we went back to MGM to catch the shows we had missed the first time around. Had lunch at the 50's prime Time again, we had so much fun a couple of days ago. Then, back to the hotel, spent some time taking pictures of the resort, and walked over to Dixie Landings to check it out. It looks much bigger than Port Orleans, and harder to navigate. For this reason, combined with the bus service (see above), I would wholeheartedly recommend Port Orleans over Dixie Landings. Later, we went back to Epcot for dinner at the Biergarten. Yet another can't-miss dining experience. We got to see the show twice-once when we were just being seated, and again before we left.
Sat.: Another breakfast at Bonfamilles, we had such a good experience yesterday. Today was just as good. Checked out (:-( ), and left our bag to be picked up later. We met my mom (who was giving us a ride home) in Epcot, and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which every body loved. Did the Land and the Seas, then went to see O Canada. Shortly thereafter, my wife started feeling nauseous, so we cut the day short and headed for home. All in all, a perfectly magical week!!!!!!!
Breakfast analysis:
Food Court 1: Scrambled eggs, a muffin, coffee, juice, and milk, ~$18
Food Court 2: 4 bagels, cream cheese, coffee, milk, ~$11
Banfamilles 1: Skillet breakfast (eggs, potatoes, meat, sauce), strawberries/cream, biscuits and gravy, coffee, juice, ~$25
Bonfamilles 2: Skillet breakfast, French Toast, coffee, juice, ~$18
So, basically, a hearty breakfast will cost about the same at either the restaurant or the food court, and I found the ambiance of the restaurant infinitely preferable to the food court. If you only want a bagel then the food court is the way to go, especially since you can eat it before the other food.
Dave Howe
dhowe@mail.ultranet.com
Travel Method: Unknown
Resort: Port Orleans
Accommodations: Standard Room
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Unknown
Comments: Dave and his wife spent their honeymoon at Port Orleans in December 1995. They purchased a "Honeymoon Escape" package deal. Dave provides information on the resort as well as a day-by-day report of their park touring.
Howdy, all!
Well, as my way of saying "Thanks" for all the great hints and info I've received over the pas year or so from all the folks here, I thought I'd post a report on my honeymoon spent at WDW from Dec. 17-23. I'll start with some general impressions, then go on to a more detailed itinerary of how we spent our week.
First of all: We stayed at Port Orleans, and it was absolutely wonderful!! The worst thing that happened to us was that we had requested a king size bed in the room, and had to make due with 2 double beds. Oh well. We stayed in building 6, which was a ways from the lobby/food court/pool, but it wasn't that bad, maybe a 3 or 4 minute walk. We booked the "Honeymoon Escape" package, but I think if I was doing it over, I'd try to go more a la carte. The package gave us park admission, non-motorized recreational vehicle rental, a welcome basket, one dinner, and one breakfast. The basket was nothing special, just some soaps, bath oils, and such, the meals were nice, but we hardly used the boat rentals. I think, overall, we barely broke even with the package extras. If I were really trying to go budget, I could probably have gotten a better price and not felt as though I had missed something.
Bus service was fine, we had no problems except for one morning (see below). In general, it took about a half hour (from the time we arrived at the bus station) to get to any park, about 40 minutes to get to another resort (but we only tried to get to the monorail resorts around the Magic Kingdom). Bus service is the area where I would recommend Port Orleans over Dixie Landings. Since the busses stop at PO first, the folks from DL usually ended up standing for the ride to the parks, and also got dropped off last at the end of the day. I think this would have annoyed me if I were staying at DL.
Crowds were OK. They seemed to pick up towards the end of the week, as the Christmas crowd arrived. I don't think we ever waited more than a half hour to get in to any attraction.
Now, on to the details.....
Sun., 12/17: Arrived around 4pm. Got unpacked, and went over to Polynesian for the 6:45 Luau. Hung out on Polynesian beach until it was time for the luau to start. The luau was great! We really enjoyed both the food and the show.
Mon.: Early Entry at Magic Kingdom. Had an early breakfast at the Food Court. This was better than expected, a good way to start the day. Then to MK. Did Alien Encounter, Splash and Space Mountains. Alien Encounter was great! Left MK around 11 for Epcot. Noon reservations at Akershus. The restaurant was fairly empty, I don't think we needed the reservations. The food was marvelous. Friendly hint for all: don't schedule many all-you-can-eat meals consecutively. After an all-you-can-eat rehearsal dinner Friday night, the reception dinner Saturday, the luau Sunday, and Akershus Monday, we were darn near ready to explode. Don't let this happen to you. Plan your eating wisely. Anyway, we toured World Showcase for a bit, then decided we were too tired to continue. We returned to the hotel around 3 pm. My wife decided she was so tense from the wedding and all the excitement that she needed a massage, so she scheduled one over at the contemporary. While she went there, I got myself a canoe, and paddled around the river. Quite relaxing, and a rather enjoyable way to pass a bit of time. Got dinner at the Food Court around 8 pm. This was a mistake. It took us 30 minutes to get our food, as the place was rather crowded with families returning from the parks at this time. I believe we would have done better getting a sit-down meal at Bonfamilles. After dinner, we spent some time in the hot tub, then retired for the night.
Tues.: 9 am Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian. This was one of the highlights of the trip. Although we didn't get to meet Mary Poppins, we did get to hang with Goofy and Pluto, who were positively phenomenal, the way they interacted with us at the table. This put us in a great frame of mind as we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Shortly after we arrived, a downpour began, so we bought a poncho and umbrella, and plunged onwards. We saw everything we wanted to see at the MK, then headed over to Epcot around 4. We did the wonders of life Pavilion and World of Motion then saw the tree lighting ceremony, which was quite nice. After this, we went back to World Showcase, and made our way counter-clockwise. We had a fast-food dinner in Japan, which was OK, nothing spectacular. We saw parts of the candlelight processional, but not enough to really be able to comment on the show. Holiday Illuminations was great, but somehow it didn't seem as special as the ordinary Illuminations I saw this past May.
Wed.: Early Entry at MGM, so we hit the food court about 6:45 for breakfast. Unfortunately, they don't start serving the real breakfast food until 7. Only the bakery is open before that , so we had to make do with bagels. Now, I know this isn't that big a hardship, but when I'm on vacation, I like a real hearty breakfast, so this was kind of a disappointment for me. Oh well. Rode Tower of Terror first thing, and thought it was amazing! Noontime lunch at the Sci-Fi, which was great, then went back to touring the studios. My wife, who is a real movie buff, really enjoyed this day, I think. Dinner was at the 50's Prime Time, and was another highlight of the trip. The folks next to us were trying to be troublemakers, so "Mom" mad one of them stand in the corner! The whole evening was an absolute hoot! we got back to the hotel around 7 or so, and my wife was exhausted. I, on the other hand, was still rarin' to go, so I took the boat ride to Pleasure Island, and had a wonderful time until about 11:00, when I headed back home.
Thurs.: Had 8:30 breakfast reservations at King Stefan's. On the whole, we didn't think this was as good as the Grand Florida. We didn't like the food as well, and while there were more characters, they didn't seem as lively as at the GAF. Peter Pan and Wend were the one exception to this rule, however, they deserve a special commendation for the witty banter they engaged in with us. It was nice to be able to talk to the characters, however, as most of the folks here were characters which didn't have to wear a head. In general, it was a kind hello from the character, snap a picture, then on to the next table. After breakfast, we spent a few hours shopping for souvenirs and gifts on Main Street, then went back to the hotel. We got a canoe and paddled around for a bit, then took the boat over to the Marketplace. We had dinner at the Fireworks Factory, which was excellent, then went into Pleasure Island. Saw the comedy warehouse show, which was absolutely hysterical, then went into the Adventurer's Club, and hung out there for a couple of hours. A truly wonderful evening.
Fri.: Breakfast at Bonfamilles-perfectly marvelous! I wish we had discovered this sooner! More relaxing than the food court, better food, and really not that much more expensive (I'll put a breakfast analysis at the end of the post to explain my point). After breakfast, we went back to MGM to catch the shows we had missed the first time around. Had lunch at the 50's prime Time again, we had so much fun a couple of days ago. Then, back to the hotel, spent some time taking pictures of the resort, and walked over to Dixie Landings to check it out. It looks much bigger than Port Orleans, and harder to navigate. For this reason, combined with the bus service (see above), I would wholeheartedly recommend Port Orleans over Dixie Landings. Later, we went back to Epcot for dinner at the Biergarten. Yet another can't-miss dining experience. We got to see the show twice-once when we were just being seated, and again before we left.
Sat.: Another breakfast at Bonfamilles, we had such a good experience yesterday. Today was just as good. Checked out (:-( ), and left our bag to be picked up later. We met my mom (who was giving us a ride home) in Epcot, and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience, which every body loved. Did the Land and the Seas, then went to see O Canada. Shortly thereafter, my wife started feeling nauseous, so we cut the day short and headed for home. All in all, a perfectly magical week!!!!!!!
Breakfast analysis:
Food Court 1: Scrambled eggs, a muffin, coffee, juice, and milk, ~$18
Food Court 2: 4 bagels, cream cheese, coffee, milk, ~$11
Banfamilles 1: Skillet breakfast (eggs, potatoes, meat, sauce), strawberries/cream, biscuits and gravy, coffee, juice, ~$25
Bonfamilles 2: Skillet breakfast, French Toast, coffee, juice, ~$18
So, basically, a hearty breakfast will cost about the same at either the restaurant or the food court, and I found the ambiance of the restaurant infinitely preferable to the food court. If you only want a bagel then the food court is the way to go, especially since you can eat it before the other food.
Dave Howe
dhowe@mail.ultranet.com