Trip Report ♪ I picked a pearl and I liked it...♪ May 2014 Trip Report COMPLETED (Finally, 5 months later)

Waiting around to check out (They let us have a late checkout of 1pm yay!)and head to DtD before our 6:30 MDE pick-up, so I figured I'd get a head start on my report to help carry me through the leaving Disney blues. We had a great trip, some hiccups and incidents, but overall we had a great time! I can't upload any pics on this super slow wi-fi, so I will add them when I get home. I posted some stuff here and there during our trip and you can find that in my pre-trip report here.

Who: Me, DH, DS(8), and DS (4), joined later by MIL and FIL
When:5/14-21
Where: Port Orleans Riverside Alligator Bayou


Day One
Technically our trip started on 5/13, but I will begin on the morning of 5/14. We had an early 5 am wake-up call and my bestie dropped us off at the AC airport to catch our 730 flight on Spirit. Despite all the negative reviews, our flight was flawless- new plane, friendly employees, no delays We arrived a little bit early and before we knew it we were sitting on an MDE bus on our way to PORS! After a quick stop at Saratoga, we were home!

Online check-in was a breeze and when the CM handed us our packet we noticed that we had been upgraded to a preferred location room in Alligator Bayou, woo-hoo!! We had called and requested building 16 or 17, but they put us in a wonderful room in building 15! Love that pixie dust!

We headed over to our room to check it out.

So after checking everything out we decided we'd get an early start at the MK. We go to head out the door and I have this nagging feeling that we are forgetting something important. SUNSCREEN!! Oh no! All three bottles are tucked safely away...in our luggage! I race over to the store, but cannot bring myself to spend $13 on a bottle when I know that we have three in our bags. The skies were also not looking so friendly, so we collectively decided to head back to the room to take a nap and wait for our bags.

 

[SarahBella82]

Following! Can't wait to hear about your trip.

 

[lbrad]

following too

 

[FlaggNL]

foloowing along

 

[Ember]

Slowly adding pics to the day one. Photobucket is being wonky and I am too tired to deal with it right now

 

[Ember]

Day One Part Two
Our luggage arrived around 1pm and after a generous application of sunscreen, we headed out to the bus depot. We were cutting it dangerously close to our 2pm Anna and Elsa M&G, but thought we would definitely make it before the end of the hour window. We had no idea how wrong we were. We make it to the depot and there are a few couples hanging out. They look irritated, but didn't think anything of it at the time. Twenty minutes passes, then thirty, then 45. Where is the bus? We see buses come and go for all of the other parks. Finally someone calls the front desk and they find out there has been an accident and it's holding up the buses. Ten minutes later a bus finally comes around. By this time it's 2pm and we are really going to have to book it to make our Anna and Elsa. My littlest guy is the biggest Frozen fan and he has been looking forward to this ever since I snagged the FP. We start towards the MK and proceed to get stuck in the biggest nightmare traffic jam I have ever seen in Disney. We sit and wait, and wait, and wait. Our window comes and goes with no replacement times available We finally made it to the MK around 3:45 and we are all feeling a bit down. Our normal first day ritual and excited skip down main street is replaced by a frantic rush for the restrooms and then a place to get drinks. (Sorry for the downer, but shadoobie happens, even at the most magical place on earth).

Instead of grabbing boring ole soda or water, I have an idea to help get us back on track:

LeFou's Brew!

And some cinnamony goodness

The rain started to fall, but we had come so far we didn't let it bother us. For our first ride at MK- Dumbo with a measly 10 minute wait!

Eli got to be timekeeper. He was so excited!

Since we missed his beloved A&E FP I let little man pick a replacement and he went with Buzz.

After Buzz the big guys rode Space Mountain while little man and I went on Winnie and then went to the Incredibles Dance Party (the first of many, many times)

Then a quick spin on the people mover

And then my most favorite of them all

I did not even attempt to take pictures during this ride because I wanted to enjoy every second of it

I have to say that the low crowds really made up for the crappy start we had. The lines were super low. We had a FP for PP, but the stand-by was only 25 minutes. I have never seen it that low!

Walk on for IaSW (later in the week the line was 50 minutes!!!!!)

Try as I might I can never get good pics on this ride. Maybe I should use my flash mwahahahaha. Seems like all the cool kids are doing it these days

After IaSW the rain was so bad that I had to wrap my camera in plastic and bury it in the bookbag so I don't have any more pics from this night But we had a great time. We went on Splash and BTMR a gazillion times with very little wait times and rode everything else once or twice with little to no waiting. It was fantastic! We had dinner at Columbia Harbor House, I had the fish and chips and hubs had the lobster roll. My fish was so tasty! And he loved the lobster roll, while I found out that I am not a fan of lobster rolls lol. We sat upstairs and people watched through the windows. It was a really pleasant experience.

We headed back to the resort around 10 and since it had finally stopped raining we decided to go for a swim. We stayed in the big pool until they kicked us out and then headed to the quiet pool to lounge around some more with a group of people who had the same idea. We finally hit the hay around 1am. Not bad for our first day

 

[mrdrift]

Sorry to hear that you missed the fast pass time for the M&G. I wonder if you might have stopped by the fast pass kiosks and talk with a CM and ask them if there was something they could have done since you missed your scheduled time due to the bus accident. But you know what I'm glad to hear that you were able to turn a negative in to a positive for the kids and that's what really counts . Good to hear the crowd were lite so you could do many ride with the kids. Who got that fantastic score of 999999, I am lucky if I can get 100000. Great TR will be watching for more.

 

[Ember]

Day Two- Animal Kingdom and the arrival of the in-laws
Up and at em bright and early this morning so that we could get some stuff done before the in-laws arrived. Headed straight for EE and rode it twice, then headed to our FP at Kali. We then rode Dinosaur (I left my prescription sunglasses in the stupid pocket on this ride and they never showed up at lost and found Really upset about that), Triceratops Spin, and DH and oldest DS rode the god-awful wild mouse roller coaster. I hate that thing! We then headed to our favorite spot- Flame Tree for some bbq before heading back to PORS to meet up with the in-laws. We thought we'd have plenty of time later to ride the safari and visit the animals, but even the best laid plans....

In-laws decided they wanted to stop and eat before meeting up with us, so we decided to take a swim while waiting.

We met up with the in-laws at the food court and grabbed a magic cookie bar for the first time. This was the only pic I managed to get lol :

It was delicious!

 

[Ember]

Sorry to hear that you missed the fast pass time for the M&G. I wonder if you might have stopped by the fast pass kiosks and talk with a CM and ask them if there was something they could have done since you missed your scheduled time due to the bus accident. But you know what I'm glad to hear that you were able to turn a negative in to a positive for the kids and that's what really counts . Good to hear the crowd were lite so you could do many ride with the kids. Who got that fantastic score of 999999, I am lucky if I can get 100000. Great TR will be watching for more.

I didn't even think about talking to a CM until the next day. I will remember that for next time. That score belongs to me! But we were stuck for about five minutes in the same room and I found the much talked about cheat and definitely exploited it lol.

 

[Ember]

Day Two Part Two
After our swim we headed back to the room to change for our return to AK and I realized my very expensive prescription sunglasses are missing. Ding- a light bulb went off in my head and I realized that I left them in the stinking pocket of Dinosaur. It got a little chaotic when we got off the ride, my youngest's seat belt was stuck and in the craziness I forgot to grab my glasses. We decided we'd stop at guest services on our way back in to the park. We meet the in-laws at the stop and oh no way, we are not those people!!! My mil has rented a #$%^* scooter!!! Why?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, so embarrassing. I want to crawl in a hole. It really put me in a funk for the rest of the time they were there. I tried so hard to not let their presence affect me, but there is a reason we plan our vacations with just the four of us. It's too much pressure trying to factor in other people, especially when said people rent a freaking scooter that they don't need. End rant. I apologize for the tangent.
Anywho, we headed down to the depot and waited, and waited, and waited for a bus. (Side rant- I have long defended the bus system, but this trip really pushed my limits with the buses. The shortest time we waited was 30 minutes . It wasn't just PORS either, it was at all the resorts we visited, maybe it was just a bad week). We finally got to AK and as soon as we stepped out of the bus it began to rain, and not just gentle drops, but pouring buckets rain. My DH runs to guest services and comes back empty handed. My glasses were not turned in . The in-laws don't want to deal with the rain so we hop on a bus to Kidani for our Sanaa ADR to see if they can get us in early. We meandered around Kidani, taking in the sights, talking with the CM outside, and enjoying the views. Sanaa was able to get us in about an hour early and while we weren't seated directly at a window, we were seated at a booth behind those tables, which gave us a great view. Dinner was fantastic, as usual, but our server was not. He wasn't rude or anything, just a little incompetent and when we had already divvied up the bill and given him our payment he came back and said I'm sorry, but I forgot to add your coffee to the bill and I need to re-run everything. Um, ok. I have never had that happen before. The food and views were excellent though, so we didn't complain. My family shared the pick three veggie and meat dishes, my mil got the lamb shank, and my fil got the tandoori chicken. We all shared the nine sauce bread service. So yummy!

After dinner we caught a bus to DtD where we hopped on the boat for a relaxing trip down the Sassagoula. We were all in bed and asleep by 9pm. Party animals

 

[Ember]

Day Three
Magic Kingdom and Commencement Day! Today is the day the rest of my class will be walking in the commencement ceremony and listening to Chris Christie giving our commencement speech. All while I am in the Magic Kingdom celebrating Disney style
We were planning on making it to MK for rope drop, but after hearing about the Frozen madness, we decided to leave at 9 instead. After waiting 45 minutes, a bus finally arrived and away to the MK we went.

Quick stop at the hat shop while we were waiting for the in-laws to redeem their FL certificates.

Picking out bling

The plan was to take the train to Frontierland for our first FPs. When we got to the train station the parade was going on and we had a great view!

After the parade ended we went to get on the train, only to find out that scooters are not allowed on the train. So plan one of the day was a complete fail. Urgh. While the rest of the group watched the show at the castle I looked up our fps for the day and noticed that my in-laws selections had disappeared! I spent the next twenty minutes or so trying to copy and rearrange until I finally worked it out. Luckily this was the only snafu we had concerning MME during our trip. With all that behind us, we headed into Adventureland.

First stop: Pirates

This is another ride that I have given up trying to get good pictures on. Maybe next time I'll ask one of the flash happy people to e-mail me their pictures

Up next was our fast passes for BTMR and Splash. I'll have to post the pics from Splash when my mil sends it to me.

After that was our surprise fp at BOG! I didn't take many pics because I took a ton on our last trip. Check out last year's trip report if you want to see them. Our fp went off without a hitch, minus having to reorder our food at the kiosk. We sat in the West Wing and the food was AMAZING! I got the tuna nicoise salad and hubs got the croque monsier. I actually can't remember what the kids got lol. We got a strawberry cupcake and the master's cupcake. The master's cupcake was divine. The grey stuff really is delicious! What a great experience! We will definitely eat there again

I tried to take pics sans flash so I wouldn't interrupt the other parties in the room so my pics are a blurry mess

Cooked to perfection. So, so good!

After lunch we headed over to check out the completed mine train. It's so pretty.

By this time it was getting hot and really crowded, so we decided to take a break and head back to the resort for a swim and rest.

 

[Ember]

Day Three Part Two

After a nice break we headed back to MK.

First stop- another Incredibles Dance Party, then a sunset trip on the people mover.

We headed into Fantasyland to introduce the in-laws to LeFou's brew. I know some people don't like it, but we're addicted

Little man wanted to ride Ariel.

Light parade! My pics are terrible!

Then it was finally time for our Wishes FP!!!! Let me just say that this was soooo worth it. It was the highlight of our trip. There is nothing quite like laying in the grass in the rose garden watching the fireworks without worrying about people blocking you or being all up in your bubble. It was spectacular! There is a tree that blocks the view a bit, but still totally worth it!

 

[Ember]

Wishes

 

[pumpkin7]

Awesome report so far!

 

[mrdrift]

Love the trip report and pictures. The one that stands out the most for me is the speedway picture, did you use a special camera lens for that? By the way, you have a very cute family that seems to really enjoy the parks. All I can say is that you were very patient with the scooter situation, so rant away !

 

[Ember]

Love the trip report and pictures. The one that stands out the most for me is the speedway picture, did you use a special camera lens for that? By the way, you have a very cute family that seems to really enjoy the parks. All I can say is that you were very patient with the scooter situation, so rant away !

Thanks! No special lens, just the standard 18/55 Canon lens and then I played with the colors when I uploaded it.

 

[Ember]

Great report so far! Love your MIL scooter rant!

Thanks! I had some more choice words about the situation that are not appropriate for this forum But seriously, I have lupus and I don't use a scooter even though some days my ankles feel like they are going to pack a bag and leave me hanging.

 

[Ember]

Day Three Part Three
After Wishes ended ( I admit that I shed a tear or two), we headed into Adventureland for more adventure, while the in-laws headed back to PORS.

The Jungle Cruise at night is so cool! I don't remember who suggested doing that, but thank you!! I have never done that before and it was worth it, not only because there was no line, but also because it was a totally different way to experience it.
After JC we headed back for a good night's sleep before Epcot in the morning.

 

[Tiggerish]

Great photos!! Your boys are so cute! Love the fedora on the little one--"little man" is so right.

 

[Ember]

Day Four- Epcot Flower and Garden
Let me preface this day by saying that while DH and I like to partake in drunken revelry, I don't feel that Disney is really the place to do that. At least not during the day when families are present. Heck even when the kids went back to the resort with their grandparents, we still found it to be a little too much to handle and went to the Boardwalk instead. I had heard the stories of these things happening, especially on weekends when the locals come out to play, but I had never witnessed these things up close. I can see why people have been upset in the past. It's fine for people to imbibe and be happy,loud, dancing, or being silly. But when people are slurring, staggering, smoking, puking, and peeing everywhere I have a problem. Granted some of these things were happening in dark corners, so maybe we just chose the wrong dark corners to try to sit and relax. It won't keep me away from Epcot, but I will definitely go on a weekday instead next trip.

On with the show. We had planned to sleep in this day, but woke up early anyway and headed to Epcot while the in-laws planned to meet us later. It was supposed to be a low crowd day, but the place was packed! We hit up Mission Space first and did a child-swap. E loves the playground here and it's makes the waiting much more manageable.

Then we headed over to Nemo and skipped the aquarium part because we thought we could come back later. It closed at 5 that day, is that normal? Needless to say we missed it.
We wandered around Innoventions a bit while we waited for our TT fp time.

The kids' designs whipped our behinds. Go kids!
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the WS and checking out all the F&G stuff.

We ate lunch at Tangierine Cafe and oh man it was soooo good!!
I don't even know what plates we got, but we shared everything and it was so tasty. Definitely recommend eating here.

Next up: I finally picked a pearl!!! And I liked it!!!