The who: Me and my boyfriend
The what: His first trip to Disney World, my first time to MNSSHP & Food & Wine Festival.
The when: October 26th-November 1st
The where: Port Orleans French Quarter
The why: Because its the happiest place on earth
We left chilly Philly bright and early on Friday October 26th and landed in sunny Orlando at around 9:25am. After we grabbed our luggage, it was off to the DME.
After a short ride we finally arrived!!!!
We made 2 stops before arriving at POFQ, first we stopped at Old Key West then it was Saratoga Springs. It took us about an hour from the time our flight landed at the gate to the time we stepped into POFQ.
I had done the online check-in so we grabbed our packet and were surprised to know that our room was ready. Our room was located on the second floor of building 6, and we had a beautiful view of the Sassagoula River.
After unpacking, we grabbed a bus to the Magic Kingdom and we were in the park by noon. Since we were starving, we grabbed a quick bite at Pecos Bill, we each had the bacon cheeseburger, a great way to start off the trip! Then it was onto my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. We headed towards Frontierland and saw that Splash was down, there was no water, and the CM said he did not know when it would be up and running. We continued clockwise around MK, riding Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World, each about a 10 minute wait. On IASM, I noticed a lot of AA's not working, and the ride was filthy with mold. There was a back up of boats to the entrance of the white room, so we were stuck listening to the song for an extra 10 minutes, my boyfriend was ready to jump ship! We made our way over to the FLE and asked a cast member if there were going to be any guest previews, he said that there are no definite times and to keep checking back, but that they are having previews each night for the MNSSHP guests. I finally got to meet Mickey at his new home in the front of the park, and I was surprised that there was no wait for him and the Princesses! After our quick visit with Mickey we went to grab the boat to Wilderness Lodge for our 5:30 dinner ressie at Artist Point. Because of the winds from hurricane Sandy, the boats were not running, so we jumped on a bus. We got to Wilderness Lodge early and decided to grab a drink at the pool bar.
We walked around the resort and grabbed a rocking chair in front of the fireplace while we waited for the restaurant to open.
We were using the deluxe dining plan so we each got an appetizer, entree, and dessert for each meal. If you enjoy good food, I would recommend this plan so you can try the signature restaurants on property.
Inside Artist Point. We had a seat right next to a window so we could look out at the grounds.
Appetizers: Kettle Steamed Penn Cove Mussels & Confit Natural Bacon
Entrees: Pan-roasted Pacific Halibut & Cedar Plank-roasted Wild King Salmon
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse, Berry Cobbler
After dinner we took the bus back to Magic Kingdom to grab the bus to POFQ. Since we were up since 3am, we decided to make it an early night so we would be ready to go the next day. Saturday we had an early ADR at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.
Bacon omlette & Tonga Toast!!
After breakfast we took the monorail over to MK and went directly to Frontierland since Splash was down the day before. When we got there, both Splash and BTMRR were down, cast members said that they were not sure what time they would open, and that if we got a fastpass, they would honor it at anytime throughout the day. We decided we would wait around, and by 9am, Splash was open. I was horrified to see the state that the ride was in, half of the AA's weren't working such as the fishing bird in the first scene he was bent over almost falling into the water, there were no bee's spinning around the beehives, no hopping br'er rabbit, no jumping water, the turtles weren't moving with the water, and there were missing AA's on the riverboat. We rode twice in a row with no wait, and when we were finished with Splash, BTMRR was open, we walked right on, there are still no moving rocks even after the long refurb! We visited the CBJ, even though I had watched the new version of the show on youtube, I was extremely let down with the new, shorter version. The theater was pretty packed but no one besides myself and one other person clapped along with the show. I was hoping they fixed the volume, but it was still really hard to hear, and I did not like some of the new fur and costumes on the bears. Without the dialogue it made no sense, and as we were leaving people were complaining about the missing songs. Over in Fantasyland, Winne the Pooh was closed the entire day, not sure why. We checked out Storybook Circus and I LOVED all the details, I think Disney did a great job with this section of the park.
Some of the yummy treats available:
The what: His first trip to Disney World, my first time to MNSSHP & Food & Wine Festival.
The when: October 26th-November 1st
The where: Port Orleans French Quarter
The why: Because its the happiest place on earth
We left chilly Philly bright and early on Friday October 26th and landed in sunny Orlando at around 9:25am. After we grabbed our luggage, it was off to the DME.
After a short ride we finally arrived!!!!
We made 2 stops before arriving at POFQ, first we stopped at Old Key West then it was Saratoga Springs. It took us about an hour from the time our flight landed at the gate to the time we stepped into POFQ.
I had done the online check-in so we grabbed our packet and were surprised to know that our room was ready. Our room was located on the second floor of building 6, and we had a beautiful view of the Sassagoula River.
After unpacking, we grabbed a bus to the Magic Kingdom and we were in the park by noon. Since we were starving, we grabbed a quick bite at Pecos Bill, we each had the bacon cheeseburger, a great way to start off the trip! Then it was onto my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. We headed towards Frontierland and saw that Splash was down, there was no water, and the CM said he did not know when it would be up and running. We continued clockwise around MK, riding Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World, each about a 10 minute wait. On IASM, I noticed a lot of AA's not working, and the ride was filthy with mold. There was a back up of boats to the entrance of the white room, so we were stuck listening to the song for an extra 10 minutes, my boyfriend was ready to jump ship! We made our way over to the FLE and asked a cast member if there were going to be any guest previews, he said that there are no definite times and to keep checking back, but that they are having previews each night for the MNSSHP guests. I finally got to meet Mickey at his new home in the front of the park, and I was surprised that there was no wait for him and the Princesses! After our quick visit with Mickey we went to grab the boat to Wilderness Lodge for our 5:30 dinner ressie at Artist Point. Because of the winds from hurricane Sandy, the boats were not running, so we jumped on a bus. We got to Wilderness Lodge early and decided to grab a drink at the pool bar.
We walked around the resort and grabbed a rocking chair in front of the fireplace while we waited for the restaurant to open.
We were using the deluxe dining plan so we each got an appetizer, entree, and dessert for each meal. If you enjoy good food, I would recommend this plan so you can try the signature restaurants on property.
Inside Artist Point. We had a seat right next to a window so we could look out at the grounds.
Appetizers: Kettle Steamed Penn Cove Mussels & Confit Natural Bacon
Entrees: Pan-roasted Pacific Halibut & Cedar Plank-roasted Wild King Salmon
Dessert: Chocolate Mousse, Berry Cobbler
After dinner we took the bus back to Magic Kingdom to grab the bus to POFQ. Since we were up since 3am, we decided to make it an early night so we would be ready to go the next day. Saturday we had an early ADR at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian.
Bacon omlette & Tonga Toast!!
After breakfast we took the monorail over to MK and went directly to Frontierland since Splash was down the day before. When we got there, both Splash and BTMRR were down, cast members said that they were not sure what time they would open, and that if we got a fastpass, they would honor it at anytime throughout the day. We decided we would wait around, and by 9am, Splash was open. I was horrified to see the state that the ride was in, half of the AA's weren't working such as the fishing bird in the first scene he was bent over almost falling into the water, there were no bee's spinning around the beehives, no hopping br'er rabbit, no jumping water, the turtles weren't moving with the water, and there were missing AA's on the riverboat. We rode twice in a row with no wait, and when we were finished with Splash, BTMRR was open, we walked right on, there are still no moving rocks even after the long refurb! We visited the CBJ, even though I had watched the new version of the show on youtube, I was extremely let down with the new, shorter version. The theater was pretty packed but no one besides myself and one other person clapped along with the show. I was hoping they fixed the volume, but it was still really hard to hear, and I did not like some of the new fur and costumes on the bears. Without the dialogue it made no sense, and as we were leaving people were complaining about the missing songs. Over in Fantasyland, Winne the Pooh was closed the entire day, not sure why. We checked out Storybook Circus and I LOVED all the details, I think Disney did a great job with this section of the park.
Some of the yummy treats available:
