Dreams Do Come True in New Orleans WDW 2.2012 Relocation Prep

Fashionista007 · Mar 25, 2012

Day 1 Who Needs Sleep?

We took a bit of a later flight this time so I got to sleep in. Until 3:30AM! We left the house at 5AM, here's a look at what the weather has been like at home lately...

We had a connecting flight in Charlotte and the family in front of us on the plane were so cute! They had 2 teenage kids and they obviously hadnt been to Disney in a long time (if ever). The son asked "So is Magic Kingdom like a water park?" All 3 of us had to smile

We boarded the Magical Express and I of course got all teary when we were finally on Disney soil. There was such a finality about this trip, it would be the last time we would fly into MCO and ride the Magical Express because we would be locals soon!!

We arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter, we were all so excited because none of us had stayed there before. I have now stayed at every single moderate hotel

The French Quarter did not disappoint and it quickly became my favorite moderate hotel!

I love the Mardi Gras decor! If only we had been there a week earlier!

Jason and I checked in with no problem but they had Mom assigned to a different building. The concierge was nice enough to see if they could change that. She ended up in our building (#1) and on our floor! Our room was ready but hers was not.

Fashionista007 · Mar 25, 2012

I love the moderate resorts because you can actually select a King sized bed, ah heaven!

Jason was tuckered out so he decided to take a nap. Mom and I went to do what we came here for in the first place...have BEIGNETS!!

We were in absolute heaven

Fashionista007 · Mar 25, 2012

We went to EPCOT for just 1 hour. We just meandered around and Mom had soup at Sunshine Seasons. On the way out, CM John recognized me from our Illuminations Dessert Party! We chatted about Star Tours and Weddings, he's getting married next year and he is having his reception in Italy

I wish him luck!

My Mom's room was ready so we went back to Port Orleans French Quarter. I checked in on my husband who was still sleeping! I left him a note and then Mom and I headed out to the Magic Kingdom to meet Amy Petermann for dinner at Columbia Harbor House.

We all arrived just on time and got dinner. Mom and I split the tuna sandwich, yum! We sat upstairs and talked for hours. Mom finally got bored and left

Amy and I had a girls Saturday night out and she suggested we go to the dance party in Tomorrowland. I haven't been dancing in forever, it was so fun!!

This photo was taken by Amy Petermann

After we got tired of dancing, we took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. It was a nice chance for us to have a quiet talk, it was so great to make such a nice new friend!

A Castmember friend of mine, Karen, texted me to see where I was. I met Karen and her fiance, Robby, and we walked to the Crystal Palace to watch The Magic, The Memories, and You and Wishes. One of my favorite memories from this trip was saying the entire script along with my new CM friends! I'm sorry I didn't get a picture!

I parted ways with my friends to go back to check on my husband who never left the hotel

He was fine, just tired! I can't believe I never slept all day! I was up from 3:30AM - 11PM. I was running on pure adrenaline! But, it was time for bed because the next day we would go on an adventure...OFF PROPERTY!

PeoplemoverTTA · Mar 25, 2012

I'm definitely eager to read this report - both because I've followed your TRs since your engagement, and because I'm preparing for my own relocation to Orlando in August!

I'm a big fan of Amy's blog, too. And I'm hoping I can get some good tips from your report.

I'm pretty sure I'll be looking for a roommate situation when I move down. So if you know anyone who's looking for a roommate in August, just let me know

Fashionista007 · Mar 25, 2012

PeoplemoverTTA said:
I'm definitely eager to read this report - both because I've followed your TRs since your engagement, and because I'm preparing for my own relocation to Orlando in August!

I'm a big fan of Amy's blog, too. And I'm hoping I can get some good tips from your report.

I'm pretty sure I'll be looking for a roommate situation when I move down. So if you know anyone who's looking for a roommate in August, just let me know

Yay another relocator!! I have met so many people who are planning to relocate and we're starting to be a pretty big group! TheRelocatedTourist is such a good place for information, you should contact Amy and let her know you're moving down. She's been so great and has helped us so much!

And thank you for following my adventures since my engagement! I can't believe it hasn't even been 2 years since then, a LOT has happened in such a short amount of time!

foreverbelle · Mar 25, 2012

Ah so excited for you guys. The hubs and I have always toyed with the idea of relocating to Florida one of these days. You sound so excited and I am so happy for you! I bet that was a hard thing to know that it would be your Magical Express flight but come on so thrilling.....Can't wait to hear the res

mamamouse · Mar 25, 2012

holy moly lucky you,that's so exciting!!!:sohappy:

Goofygirl07 · Mar 25, 2012

Love that MJ is on in the background!

PolynesianPrincess · Mar 26, 2012

Congrats on the relocation!! So exciting!!

I'd love to relocate to the Orlando area. It's just so far away from my family. I'd miss them too much I think!! lol

WishIWasAtWDW · Mar 26, 2012

we were at pofq for the same exact dates! i wonder if we passed each other at some point and didn't even realize. crazy. we were in building 4.

so exciting that you are moving to orlando! it would be so nice to be closer to wdw. no more early morning flights for you! looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

rani8600 · Mar 26, 2012

Congrats on your move...thats so exciting!

Can wait to here more about your trip

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

foreverbelle said:
Ah so excited for you guys. The hubs and I have always toyed with the idea of relocating to Florida one of these days. You sound so excited and I am so happy for you! I bet that was a hard thing to know that it would be your Magical Express flight but come on so thrilling.....Can't wait to hear the res

I can't tell you enough how excited we are!! I think we're both just really ready to have a new adventure. Plus we're thinking about starting a family and what better place is there to raise children?? :sohappy:

mamamouse said:
holy moly lucky you,that's so exciting!!!:sohappy:

Thank you so much!!! I'm beaming from ear to ear over here!

Goofygirl07 said:
Love that MJ is on in the background!

I'm so glad someone noticed! That's why I took the picture, I love old school MJ!

derelicte19 said:
Congrats on the relocation!! So exciting!!

I'd love to relocate to the Orlando area. It's just so far away from my family. I'd miss them too much I think!! lol

Thank you! We are moving away from family and we will miss them very much. We had many discussions about this but when it came down to it, we don't want to start a family here. Plus we specifically got a larger house so that we would have room for family to come stay with us, they're pretty excited about that! How many more times would you visit WDW if you didn't have to pay for a hotel?? I think we'll see them plenty!

WishIWasAtWDW said:
we were at pofq for the same exact dates! i wonder if we passed each other at some point and didn't even realize. crazy. we were in building 4.

so exciting that you are moving to orlando! it would be so nice to be closer to wdw. no more early morning flights for you! looking forward to reading the rest of your report.

OMG that is too funny! I'll bet we did pass each other at some point! Isn't POFQ the best?? I think it's the best of the moderates.

Yes, no more morning flights, no more DME! Jason said he still wants to stay at the hotels once in awhile for special occasions. But again that would be for 1 or 2 nights, not 5 - 7. It will be very different. I think now we'll also try to visit other Disney parks all around the world. I think my work might send me to Japan this year

rani8600 said:
Congrats on your move...thats so exciting!

Can wait to here more about your trip

Thank you so much! I noticed you just joined, welcome to WDWMagic! You'll love it here

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

Day 2 Driving in WDW

Jason and I woke up early to schedule the shuttle to the Walt Disney World Car Care Center. I found information for renting a car in Walt Disney World on MouseSavers.com. We went with Alamo, it was a bit cheaper than National. They are located in the same office so it doesn't really make much difference. The confirmation includes information about scheduling the shuttle and they recommend you call one hour ahead of time.__We had about an hour before the shuttle would arrive so we went for breakfast at Sassagoula!

We had the usual, I had my croissant sandwich and Jason had the Bounty Platter! I really wish they would cook the eggs a bit more (or use real eggs instead of the powder). Our breakfast was just ok. The good thing is Sassagoula accepts Tables in Wonderland!

We got the shuttle and sat up front so we could talk to the driver. This is a major tip I suggest to anyone interested in relocating - talk to the locals. Jason and I have talked to many Castmembers, drivers, and local guests. We have gotten some really valuable information! Our shuttle driver said that he lives in the area in which we were focusing our search and he assured us it was a great area to live. He suggested activities outside of Disney and told us the main roads we would be using and how to get around. He was one of the most helpful people we have spoken to and we showed our appreciation with a generous tip!

We picked up our car at Alamo with no hassle, it was very easy! We even got a sweet upgrade to a convertible!! We had fun driving around Florida in our sweet ride!

This was our first experience driving around Walt Disney World and we loved it so much we ended up extending our car until the end of our stay! We had only planned to use the car Sunday and Monday but we ended up extending it until Wednesday morning. We returned it before 10AM so we only had to pay for one extra day.

The plan for the morning was to drive around to the houses we picked to see with our Realtor, Amy Reed. We had an appointment to walk through the houses the next day but we wanted to scope out the neighborhoods first. We used the free MapQuest app on the iPhone to get around and it worked perfectly. Soon we were driving down 27 to the first house!

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

Scoping out shopping centers!

As we drove through the first neighborhood, we absolutely LOVED it. There were orange trees around so the neighborhood smelled like oranges! I loved everything about this neighborhood - it was quiet, clean, and the neighbors looked nice. Plus, it's far enough down 27 that it isn't near the tourists.

The second neighborhood was okay but it just seemed a bit older. We just didn't get the same feeling about the neighborhood that we had with the first house. We definitely had a favorite already!

Both houses were about 20 minutes from Disney and I made sure we chose houses that did not have a toll on the way to WDW. We drove back to Port Orleans French Quarter to regroup. I had lunch plans at a Cracker Barrel off property with a friend so Jason went to EPCOT solo. It was so nice to see my very good friend and have some girl time, we hadn't seen each other since 2009! She gave me awesome tips about everything from thinning my hair to Fios. I am so lucky to have someone who knows me so well in Florida! Too bad I didn't get a picture! On my drive back, I had to snap a pic of the very first time I drove through the Welcome Sign (and I cried of course!).

I can't even believe Jason and I actually considered leaving the car at the hotel and continuing to use Disney transportation. We met up at Port Orleans French Quarter, came to our senses, and drove over to EPCOT. All we had to do was show our Annual Pass and we were in! It was a total breeze and with the low crowds, we parked close enough to walk! That was it, we were hooked. We never want to take a Disney bus again!

We went straight to World Showcase to continue Jason's morning beer tour. On our way to China, we caught the globe from Reflections of Earth entering the lagoon. Neither of us had seen this or even knew it existed!

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

We had beer in China, Norway, Italy, and America. Germany of course was packed so we had to skip that one.

We stopped off in Italy, glad to see the Food & Wine booth was still there!

I want THAT!

I love me some Moretti beer!

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

We made our way over to America and I had to stop because I wanted a picture of the Flower and Garden Festival Marquee because Davy Jones was scheduled to play. I was so sad to find out a few days later via Twitter that he had died

I have a photo from 2009 where I had missed him by just 1 day and I was really looking forward to seeing him this year.

2009:

Present:

We stopped off in America for some beer and Jason's usual turkey leg!

This next photo I'm adding via special request from Jason. Enjoy

We stopped in Japan (of course, I always stop there) and paid a visit to the Art exhibit which was actually open! We loved the Tanookis from Mario to Tom Nook!!

We shopped in Mitsukoshi and I bought too much. I always do! We made our way to the front, stopping in France of course for our favorite lemon slush!

After we were good and drunk, we went to Hollywood Studios to meet up with my Castmember friend, Karen. We had an unforgettable ride on Tower of Terror with some Castmembers in training! I never buy the ride photo but I had to buy this one!

After the Tower of Terror awesomeness, we went straight to Star Tours 2.0. The line was nonexistent so we rode it twice in a row! The first ride was Droid - Kashyyyk - Yoda - Coruscant. The second time it was Droid - Pod Race - Leia - Naboo.

We went to see Fantasmic but it started drizzling and Jason got soaked and was shivering so we left before it started. Oh well we'll catch it when we're back in April!

enchanted_belle · Mar 26, 2012

Fashionista007 said:
After the Tower of Terror awesomeness, we went straight to Star Tours 2.0. The line was nonexistent so we rode it twice in a row! The first ride was Droid - Kashyyyk - Yoda - Coruscant. The second time it was Droid - Pod Race - Leia - Naboo.

I'm still so jealous of this picture lol.

and... this was the point that you texted me! yay!!!! :sohappy:

Fashionista007 · Mar 26, 2012

enchanted_belle said:
I'm still so jealous of this picture lol.

and... this was the point that you texted me! yay!!!! :sohappy:

That picture is definitely one of my all time favorite WDW photos

I rarely buy the ride photos ($18.95?? Really? I remember when they were $9.99) but I had to get that one, a photo of the photo just wouldn't do!

Yes I was literally walking through the Star Tours Queue texting you!!! Good thing too because it kept a record for me of the scenes so I could add it to the TR! I still need to see the Coruscant scene!!

diddy_mouse · Mar 26, 2012

You know what's funny, Jason's sweatshirt matches the colors of the bellhops costumes in that ToT picture. I almost didn't see him! :lol:

Dreams Do Come True in New Orleans WDW 2.2012 Relocation Prep

Fashionista007

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