mkluvsmickey
05-14-2007, 12:11 PM
Travel dates: May 4–6, 2007
Travel method: Car
Resort: Port Orleans-French Quarter
Accommodations: Standard Room, Building 7
Cast of characters:
Me (34) Disney vet
My mom (54) Disney vet
My daughter (6) Disney vet
Comments: I am a South Florida resident and annual passholder and got the itch to make a quick weekend trip with my daughter to get our Disney fix. My husband thinks I’ve brainwashed our daughter to be a Disney nut like me. He’s not a Disney lover so often Sam and I go on our own. My mom decided to tag along at the last minute which was a nice surprise.
Friday May 4, 2007
We picked up Sam (daughter) from school at around 3:00 and headed up the Florida Turnpike to the World. I was trying to surprise Sam by just picking her up from school and driving to Disney – wanted to see how long it would take her to figure out where we were going. She must have caught on to my excitement throughout the week though because she seemed to already know what was going on. The drive was uneventful – usually takes us about 2 ½ hours but was closer to 3 hours this time due to traffic.
We checks in to PORFQ at 6:00 with no waiting. I had never stayed at this resort before but was impressed. The lobby and grounds are beautiful and it really does feel like New Orleans. The trees/landscaping definitely made us feel that we were somewhere other than Central Florida. After check in, we drove to our room which was in Building 7. Though this was the building furthest from the main lobby, the walkways were beautiful. We could take a short walk either along the river or through the “streets” between the buildings. After putting our bags away we headed to the Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory (hotel food court) for dinner.
Dinner was average – I had chicken quesadillas which were pretty tasty. My mom and Sam had pizza – mom liked it and Sam didn’t. After dinner we had to get an order of Beignets for dessert. These had been recommended by a number of people including the agent who booked the room for us. We got a small order which consisted of three. My mom and I each had one and though they were tasty, neither of us had to eat the third one and we didn’t order them again throughout the trip. Sam had a brownie for dessert that she devoured.
Since my mom is not an annual passholder, we decided to hang out at the hotel for the night instead of trying to get into a park for a few hours. We walked along the grounds, checked out the gift shop and the arcade. Sam wanted to swim so she changed and we got to the pool around 9:30 p.m. She was disappointed that the slide was closed for the night but still had fun swimming around. The water was too cold for both my mom and I (I know – we’re Floridians!). We finally got back to the room around 11:00 and watched a few rounds of “Top 7 Things to Do at WDW” which my daughter can recite word for word.
Saturday May 5, 2007
Plan: Our plan for the day was to start out early and head to Epcot, back to hotel for the afternoon and then Magic Kingdom. We thought it would be crowded on a Saturday but as you will see – it was surprisingly not.
Sam and I had breakfast in the room while my mom had a Mickey waffle in the food court. We were out to the bus stop by 8:30 and there was an Epcot bus already there waiting. The bus wasn’t at all crowded (no one was standing) even after stopping at Riverside. The security line was a bit long at Epcot but we soon got into the park and began our day.
First stop (my daughters’ favorite at Epcot) was Spaceship Earth. I know they are going to be closing soon for refurbishment so we wanted to take it in once more. There was no wait as usual for this ride. The area where you get off the ride had been revamped but we didn’t do anything there. Next, we were off to Soarin’ to grab our FP but to our surprise the wait was only 20 minutes so we went right to the standby line. This is a favorite of me and my mom. Sam likes it to but gets a little scared of the fireworks at the end and plugs her ears. The ride was great – wish it was a bit longer. We were going to ride Living with the Land but the wait was 20 minutes so we decided to move on. This is another of my daughters favorites. My mom didn’t really care to go on it so we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Sam and I had been on this before but my mom hadn’t so we went over and walked right on. It’s a cute ride but not one of my favorites. We then tried to ride Journey into Imagination with Figment but it was being repaired.
We headed over to World Showcase to the Mexico Pavilion. They were having their Cinco de Mayo celebration so we thought it may have been a bit crowded. We must have hit it before the rush though – hardly anyone was there. Sam made a flower out of tissue paper at a Kidcot stop outside of the pavilion. We then rode the new ride Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. Sam and I had really enjoyed the old ride but this was good too. It was fun to have the characters involved and a lot of the old footage was quite dated. We then went back over to the Figment ride and were able to get on this time. After riding and playing in the after ride area a bit, we browsed the Art of Disney store and headed back to the bus stop.
We went back to the hotel for some rest/swim time. We had lunch at the food court – grilled cheese, hot dog and chicken club wrap and ice-cream for dessert. The food was decent – typical counter service type meals. Samantha was thrilled to be able to go back into the pool and this time the slide was open. She went down the slide over and over and over…….. It was nice to be able to just hang out in the pool and cool off a bit – it was the hottest part of the day and perfect swimming weather. After swimming for a bit we got changed to head over to Magic Kingdom for the evening.
The bus to Magic Kingdom was not crowded at all. We arrived around 4:30 and stayed until around 8:00 – we got a lot done for that short amount of time though! Sam spotted the balloons as we walked down Main Street. I promised her I would get her one on the way out of the park. The had the standard Mickey Mouse balloons and a new castle shaped balloon that she really wanted. We headed straight to Tomorrowland and pick up FP’s for Buzz Lightyear. None of us had been on this before and were excited to ride. We then hit Carousel of Progress (a favorite) and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (another favorite). Then our time was up for Buzz Lightyear. Sam and I rode in one car while my mom was in another. Sam had fun just using the controls to spin our cart from side to side the whole time – I don’t think she used her laser gun once. My mom and I had a little competition going though – sadly I only scored about 20,000 while my mom had 68,000 (I know – they are both pretty pitiful scores!). This ride was a hit for Sam – she is often a little reluctant to try something new but this one worked! We then went to the new Monsters Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club which only had a 5 minute wait. This was a funny show – we all enjoyed it. Sam actually laughed out loud through a lot of it which is unlike her. It is definitely geared towards elementary aged kids but my mom and I had a few laughs too.
We stopped for dinner at Cosmic Rays – yogurt for Sam, Chicken Caesar Salad for me and Chicken Nuggets for mom. The salad was actually pretty tasty. After dinner we headed over to Mickey’s Toontown Fair for the Goofy’s Barnstormer. Samantha was excited to take her grandma on this ride. We all rode but my mom didn’t like it – she’s not a fan of roller coasters regardless of the size. For the record, Sam hates roller coasters too (or anything too fast, dark, scary) but she can handle this ride just fine. For me, the faster/darker/scarier the better! We did the obligatory walk through Mickey and Minnie’s houses and then hopped on the train to Frontierland.
Once in Frontierland, we went straight to Pirates of the Caribbean and only had a five minute standby time. We all enjoy this ride and my mom hadn’t been on since the refurbishment. After Pirates we headed over to The Haunted Mansion. I wanted to ride this classic before it closed for refurbishment and Sam had never been on it either. She was a bit nervous about it but I told her exactly what to expect and she did just fine. I’m curious to find out what changes are made to this ride when it reopens after being refurbished. We decided to head out down Main Street after the ride. People were lined up for Spectromagic so it was a bit hard to make our way down the sidewalk. We stopped in the Main Street Bake Shop where Sam had a muffin and I had a chocolate chip cookie. Sam was excited to get her balloon on the way out but they had apparently stopped selling them since the parade was about to start – she was a little upset but got over it fairly quick. It’s been a tradition to get a balloon on the way out of Magic Kingdom to take home. She has a collection of deflated balloons at home.
Sunday May 6, 2007
Sadly, our weekend trip was about over. Our plan for the day was to load up the car, have breakfast and head over to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping. Around 8:15 a.m. there was a knock on our door – Mousekeeping was already there wanting to clean. I told them we’d be out in about an hour. About 30 minutes later she knocked again. I told her to come back in an hour. I never had that happen before – usually we are out of our room between 8:30 and 9:00. I guess they were anxious to turn our room around. Anyway, we left the room around 9:00 and put all of our suitcases in the car. We had breakfast in the food court – French toast platter for mom, egg breakfast platters for Sam and me.
We planned to take the boat to Downtown Disney but realized they didn’t start the shuttle until after 11:00 so we headed to the bus stop. This was by far the most crowded bus we encountered during our stay. There was already standing room only when we boarded. We got off at the Pleasure Island stop planning to head to the West Side first, and then walk to the Marketplace. We got there around 9:45 and realized the stores didn’t open here until 10:00 so we grabbed a bench and did some people watching. It was very hot already and was happy when 10:00 came. We went the Virgin Records where I got two Disney books (a trivia book and a book on Walt Disney) and I got Sam two books to read on the trip home. Next was Magnetron where Sam picked out a few magnets and then we went to Magic Masters. I was hoping this would be more like the old House of Magic on Main Street but it wasn’t. We walked through Pleasure Island the Marketplace and hit the World of Disney store. Sam made her own princess wand and we got some candy and a pin to add to our collection. I could have spent more time in there but it was extremely crowded – I’ve never seen it that crowded in all my trips. I guess a lot of people have the same idea for a Sunday morning! We took the boat ride back to the hotel – what a nice ride! This was really calm and peaceful. I enjoyed seeing the old tree houses and some of the other resorts. Once back at the hotel we had another quick bite to eat – pizza and chicken – then headed home. The drive home was fine – always sad to leave Disney though!
Summary
The only thing I would have changed about this short trip would be to have at least one ADR in place. The counter service meals get old and it’s nice to have a good sit-down meal to look forward to. I usually try to have one reservation made for each day but decided to skip it this time.
As usually, as soon as I get home I start working on my next trip. I try to always have my next one in the works so I can have something to look forward too. We may go again in June just to one of the water parks. Then we have a four night trip planned in October. I get jealous when I read of the 7-10 night trips a lot of people get to take but am fortunate to live close enough to do several short trips a year. :)
Travel method: Car
Resort: Port Orleans-French Quarter
Accommodations: Standard Room, Building 7
Cast of characters:
Me (34) Disney vet
My mom (54) Disney vet
My daughter (6) Disney vet
Comments: I am a South Florida resident and annual passholder and got the itch to make a quick weekend trip with my daughter to get our Disney fix. My husband thinks I’ve brainwashed our daughter to be a Disney nut like me. He’s not a Disney lover so often Sam and I go on our own. My mom decided to tag along at the last minute which was a nice surprise.
Friday May 4, 2007
We picked up Sam (daughter) from school at around 3:00 and headed up the Florida Turnpike to the World. I was trying to surprise Sam by just picking her up from school and driving to Disney – wanted to see how long it would take her to figure out where we were going. She must have caught on to my excitement throughout the week though because she seemed to already know what was going on. The drive was uneventful – usually takes us about 2 ½ hours but was closer to 3 hours this time due to traffic.
We checks in to PORFQ at 6:00 with no waiting. I had never stayed at this resort before but was impressed. The lobby and grounds are beautiful and it really does feel like New Orleans. The trees/landscaping definitely made us feel that we were somewhere other than Central Florida. After check in, we drove to our room which was in Building 7. Though this was the building furthest from the main lobby, the walkways were beautiful. We could take a short walk either along the river or through the “streets” between the buildings. After putting our bags away we headed to the Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory (hotel food court) for dinner.
Dinner was average – I had chicken quesadillas which were pretty tasty. My mom and Sam had pizza – mom liked it and Sam didn’t. After dinner we had to get an order of Beignets for dessert. These had been recommended by a number of people including the agent who booked the room for us. We got a small order which consisted of three. My mom and I each had one and though they were tasty, neither of us had to eat the third one and we didn’t order them again throughout the trip. Sam had a brownie for dessert that she devoured.
Since my mom is not an annual passholder, we decided to hang out at the hotel for the night instead of trying to get into a park for a few hours. We walked along the grounds, checked out the gift shop and the arcade. Sam wanted to swim so she changed and we got to the pool around 9:30 p.m. She was disappointed that the slide was closed for the night but still had fun swimming around. The water was too cold for both my mom and I (I know – we’re Floridians!). We finally got back to the room around 11:00 and watched a few rounds of “Top 7 Things to Do at WDW” which my daughter can recite word for word.
Saturday May 5, 2007
Plan: Our plan for the day was to start out early and head to Epcot, back to hotel for the afternoon and then Magic Kingdom. We thought it would be crowded on a Saturday but as you will see – it was surprisingly not.
Sam and I had breakfast in the room while my mom had a Mickey waffle in the food court. We were out to the bus stop by 8:30 and there was an Epcot bus already there waiting. The bus wasn’t at all crowded (no one was standing) even after stopping at Riverside. The security line was a bit long at Epcot but we soon got into the park and began our day.
First stop (my daughters’ favorite at Epcot) was Spaceship Earth. I know they are going to be closing soon for refurbishment so we wanted to take it in once more. There was no wait as usual for this ride. The area where you get off the ride had been revamped but we didn’t do anything there. Next, we were off to Soarin’ to grab our FP but to our surprise the wait was only 20 minutes so we went right to the standby line. This is a favorite of me and my mom. Sam likes it to but gets a little scared of the fireworks at the end and plugs her ears. The ride was great – wish it was a bit longer. We were going to ride Living with the Land but the wait was 20 minutes so we decided to move on. This is another of my daughters favorites. My mom didn’t really care to go on it so we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Sam and I had been on this before but my mom hadn’t so we went over and walked right on. It’s a cute ride but not one of my favorites. We then tried to ride Journey into Imagination with Figment but it was being repaired.
We headed over to World Showcase to the Mexico Pavilion. They were having their Cinco de Mayo celebration so we thought it may have been a bit crowded. We must have hit it before the rush though – hardly anyone was there. Sam made a flower out of tissue paper at a Kidcot stop outside of the pavilion. We then rode the new ride Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros. Sam and I had really enjoyed the old ride but this was good too. It was fun to have the characters involved and a lot of the old footage was quite dated. We then went back over to the Figment ride and were able to get on this time. After riding and playing in the after ride area a bit, we browsed the Art of Disney store and headed back to the bus stop.
We went back to the hotel for some rest/swim time. We had lunch at the food court – grilled cheese, hot dog and chicken club wrap and ice-cream for dessert. The food was decent – typical counter service type meals. Samantha was thrilled to be able to go back into the pool and this time the slide was open. She went down the slide over and over and over…….. It was nice to be able to just hang out in the pool and cool off a bit – it was the hottest part of the day and perfect swimming weather. After swimming for a bit we got changed to head over to Magic Kingdom for the evening.
The bus to Magic Kingdom was not crowded at all. We arrived around 4:30 and stayed until around 8:00 – we got a lot done for that short amount of time though! Sam spotted the balloons as we walked down Main Street. I promised her I would get her one on the way out of the park. The had the standard Mickey Mouse balloons and a new castle shaped balloon that she really wanted. We headed straight to Tomorrowland and pick up FP’s for Buzz Lightyear. None of us had been on this before and were excited to ride. We then hit Carousel of Progress (a favorite) and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (another favorite). Then our time was up for Buzz Lightyear. Sam and I rode in one car while my mom was in another. Sam had fun just using the controls to spin our cart from side to side the whole time – I don’t think she used her laser gun once. My mom and I had a little competition going though – sadly I only scored about 20,000 while my mom had 68,000 (I know – they are both pretty pitiful scores!). This ride was a hit for Sam – she is often a little reluctant to try something new but this one worked! We then went to the new Monsters Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club which only had a 5 minute wait. This was a funny show – we all enjoyed it. Sam actually laughed out loud through a lot of it which is unlike her. It is definitely geared towards elementary aged kids but my mom and I had a few laughs too.
We stopped for dinner at Cosmic Rays – yogurt for Sam, Chicken Caesar Salad for me and Chicken Nuggets for mom. The salad was actually pretty tasty. After dinner we headed over to Mickey’s Toontown Fair for the Goofy’s Barnstormer. Samantha was excited to take her grandma on this ride. We all rode but my mom didn’t like it – she’s not a fan of roller coasters regardless of the size. For the record, Sam hates roller coasters too (or anything too fast, dark, scary) but she can handle this ride just fine. For me, the faster/darker/scarier the better! We did the obligatory walk through Mickey and Minnie’s houses and then hopped on the train to Frontierland.
Once in Frontierland, we went straight to Pirates of the Caribbean and only had a five minute standby time. We all enjoy this ride and my mom hadn’t been on since the refurbishment. After Pirates we headed over to The Haunted Mansion. I wanted to ride this classic before it closed for refurbishment and Sam had never been on it either. She was a bit nervous about it but I told her exactly what to expect and she did just fine. I’m curious to find out what changes are made to this ride when it reopens after being refurbished. We decided to head out down Main Street after the ride. People were lined up for Spectromagic so it was a bit hard to make our way down the sidewalk. We stopped in the Main Street Bake Shop where Sam had a muffin and I had a chocolate chip cookie. Sam was excited to get her balloon on the way out but they had apparently stopped selling them since the parade was about to start – she was a little upset but got over it fairly quick. It’s been a tradition to get a balloon on the way out of Magic Kingdom to take home. She has a collection of deflated balloons at home.
Sunday May 6, 2007
Sadly, our weekend trip was about over. Our plan for the day was to load up the car, have breakfast and head over to Downtown Disney for a bit of shopping. Around 8:15 a.m. there was a knock on our door – Mousekeeping was already there wanting to clean. I told them we’d be out in about an hour. About 30 minutes later she knocked again. I told her to come back in an hour. I never had that happen before – usually we are out of our room between 8:30 and 9:00. I guess they were anxious to turn our room around. Anyway, we left the room around 9:00 and put all of our suitcases in the car. We had breakfast in the food court – French toast platter for mom, egg breakfast platters for Sam and me.
We planned to take the boat to Downtown Disney but realized they didn’t start the shuttle until after 11:00 so we headed to the bus stop. This was by far the most crowded bus we encountered during our stay. There was already standing room only when we boarded. We got off at the Pleasure Island stop planning to head to the West Side first, and then walk to the Marketplace. We got there around 9:45 and realized the stores didn’t open here until 10:00 so we grabbed a bench and did some people watching. It was very hot already and was happy when 10:00 came. We went the Virgin Records where I got two Disney books (a trivia book and a book on Walt Disney) and I got Sam two books to read on the trip home. Next was Magnetron where Sam picked out a few magnets and then we went to Magic Masters. I was hoping this would be more like the old House of Magic on Main Street but it wasn’t. We walked through Pleasure Island the Marketplace and hit the World of Disney store. Sam made her own princess wand and we got some candy and a pin to add to our collection. I could have spent more time in there but it was extremely crowded – I’ve never seen it that crowded in all my trips. I guess a lot of people have the same idea for a Sunday morning! We took the boat ride back to the hotel – what a nice ride! This was really calm and peaceful. I enjoyed seeing the old tree houses and some of the other resorts. Once back at the hotel we had another quick bite to eat – pizza and chicken – then headed home. The drive home was fine – always sad to leave Disney though!
Summary
The only thing I would have changed about this short trip would be to have at least one ADR in place. The counter service meals get old and it’s nice to have a good sit-down meal to look forward to. I usually try to have one reservation made for each day but decided to skip it this time.
As usually, as soon as I get home I start working on my next trip. I try to always have my next one in the works so I can have something to look forward too. We may go again in June just to one of the water parks. Then we have a four night trip planned in October. I get jealous when I read of the 7-10 night trips a lot of people get to take but am fortunate to live close enough to do several short trips a year. :)