Trip Report A Royal Affair: Oli's First Visit

THE SETUP
​

Hi folks!

This is my first trip report - although I'm no @Tuvalu , I'm hoping to make this report magical and memorable.

The trip starts officially on May 19th, and ends on May 26th.
So why so early you ask? I'm planning on updating this report throughout the week with LIVE updates, before doing a full fledge report once I return.

During the next few days and weeks, this report will be populated with all the information you're looking for - and so much more.

TO STAY INFORMED
To follow the trip as it unfolds - give me a follow on Instagram: @mlarocque87
To see all the trip pictures [once the trip is finished]: https://flic.kr/s/aHskQ21E2u
To get all the planning details - check out my pre-trip report: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/4th-birthday-at-wdw-why-not.924844/

 

[dmatt87]

DAY 1 - TRAVEL & MK (PART 2)
The answers to the cliffhanger​

And I'm back!

As I arrived in the lobby and saw this huge line at check-in, I remembered something. I had previously checked-in online, and I had read that there is a special counter for people who already checked-in and only need to pick-up their Magic Bands - I thought to myself "Great, no need to waste my time here!".

But, I couldn't find this time saving counter... So I did what any resourceful guest would do, find a CM with authority and ask for help.
That is when I found BRYAN - he was a manager at the resort. He was not very tall, had blond curly hair, and a suit too big for him - but all that didn't matter because he was very kind and eager to help me.

I kindly approached Bryan and asked him where the online check-in counter was located, since I had already checked-in and only needed our Bands. He informed me that unfortunately there was no such counter at this resort but he asked my name and told me to wait for two minutes - so I did. And not even 2 minutes later, he comes back with our MagicBands and tells me we are all already to go! Since I had him there, I asked if he had a special birthday button for Oli since we were there to celebrate his birthday - and he gladly gave us one!

At that point Emilie and Oli had joined me in the lobby, while Bryan was getting the button. Emilie knew that I was sad about our assigned room and told me to see if there was anything Bryan could do - I hesitated because he'd already been so kind and I didn't want to abuse. But Emilie pushed me a little more, and asked me if I really wanted to be dissapointed and even more, be mad that we were far from everything we needed. So I went ahead and asked Bryan for one more favor - I told him that I know requests were just that, but was it possible to have better room that fit our requests a little more. I thought he would tell me no or to get in line, but to my surprise, he invited to follow him to a counter and see what he could do.

He asked me what my requests were - I obliged and shared it with him. He also asked if there was a specific room I wanted - and of course I did, I told him room 9266 - it was the perfect option (according to my research). He informed me that the room was already occupied, but that 9265 was available and ready . I was so happy, I wanted to jump behind the counter and hug Bryan! Of course I didn't but I told him that he made our vacation even more magical and gave him a big handshake.

We grabbed our luggage and slowly gravitated towards our home for the week. Has we were heading towards our room, we were worried that we wouldn't make our first FP - we were a bit behind schedule, even if we had landed early.

For those who read our PTR, you know that I had booked a Royal Room behind Emilie's back to surprise her, and we were headed towards that moment - time or no time!

How will she react? Will we get food in our bellies? Will we ever make it to a park? Find out soon! [sorry @amjt660 for another cliffhanger].

But in the meantime - here are some pictures of this amazing resorts, that highlights are first views when we got there

*The lobby pictures were taken later at night - and not when we arrive as you can tell from the lack of guests

 

[amjt660]

Oh no
How will it all turn out?????

You will just have to tune in again - same Bat time - same Bat channel

(the following was a tribute to the greatest Batman of all time - the original -Adam West - who pasted away on Friday.
RIP Cape Crusader

Max

 

[dmatt87]

Oh no
How will it all turn out?????

You will just have to tune in again - same Bat time - same Bat channel

(the following was a tribute to the greatest Batman of all time - the original -Adam West - who pasted away on Friday.
RIP Cape Crusader
View attachment 209628

Max

Perfect tribute, Max!

 

[PacNWTigger]

@dmatt87 you're killing me with the cliffhangers!!

@amjt660 Awesome tribute to the great Adam West. I remember watching that show with my dad when I was a kid. Good memories.

 

[12in12]

View attachment 206251 Oli's favorite moment so far!

This is such a great picture! What a cutie!

 

[dmatt87]

DAY 1 - TRAVEL & MK (PART 3)
The Reveal​

And we are back!
When we last left off our heroes... I mean our family had gotten their Magic Bands and were headed to check out their room for the week. And Emilie was unaware that we were going to a Royal Room - and not a Bayou themed room

We took a short walk from the lobby over to the Oak Manor building - and the walk was short, less than 5 minutes. Once we crossed the bridge over the Saggoula River, we only had 100 feet or so to go before reaching our building. It was funny because there were banners hanging on lightposts with royal theming and Emilie didn't clue in - she found the exterior very beautiful however.

The view coming in to the building

If you look to the right - between the tree and the post on the 2nd level - it's our room!

Heading down the corridor, our door is the next one on the right

Here's the view from our room

And before going in, here's the door

Emilie was the chosen one to try out her Magic Band and unlock the door - I wanted her to get the first glimpse after all
She slowly walked in and her first expression was: "Wow - it's nice!" followed by "HONEY - it's a Royal Room" and I was like .

She was so happy and grateful about the surprise - it made it all worth it. And of course Oli was thrilled to see princesses all around the room, and the fireworks on the bed!

And our hostess for the week!

After we settled in a little bit, unpacked some stuff and got park ready - it was time to head to the Riverside Mill for some food. We hadn't eaten since that terrible breakfast at the airport at 6:30am.

Has you can probably tell - Oli was excited!

When we got to the food court, it was quite overwhelming - there were a lot of guests and a lot of choices. There were lineups everywhere and we didn't want to get separated at this point since all this was new and for the DDP credits. So we looked at our options and line lengths, and we finally decided on pizza!

I went with the Meat Lover Pizza - and it was delicious!
I must say that portions were huge, but I was very hungry, so I left nothing in my plate!

Emilie went with the BBQ Chicken pizza - she thought it was ok but wouldn't eat it again.

Oli went with plain cheese pizza with grapes and apples slices on the side. He ate about half - which was a trend for more than half of the week. He usually has such a big appetite but wouldn't eat much - probably all the excitement of being at Disney!

Once we finished eating - it was finally time to go visit a park!!! And the Coke bottle knew exactly where we were going

Will we get there in time for our first FP? Is it a good idea to do a park on the first day? And where's the sunscreen?
FIND OUT MORE SOON!

 

[PacNWTigger]

What a wonderful response to your room surprise! Thanks for including all of the pics of the room...is it weird that I really like the sink??

 

[dmatt87]

What a wonderful response to your room surprise! Thanks for including all of the pics of the room...is it weird that I really like the sink??

The sink was my favorite part - it was beautifully done and is a perfect example of that Disney touch!

 

[12in12]

The room looks gorgeous! What a nice surprise for your wife and a great way to start your trip. The pizza does look huge but tasty.

 

[amjt660]

Glad to see that you were able to keep the secret
I had total faith in you ()

Max

 

[dmatt87]

DAY 1 - TRAVEL & MK (PART 4)
We finally get to park​

Sorry about the delay - but let's get the show on the road

Once lunch was over, it was time to leave for The Magic Kingdom. We had our backpack ready to go and decided to go stroller-less for our first visit to a park - especially since we were going to be there only for a few hours to dip our toes into the magic.

I said we had our backpack and we were ready to go but that wasn't quite true...

As you are all aware, I'm certain, when you fly, you cannot have liquids in your carry-on that are over 5ml. Given that information, we packed our sunscreen in our checked luggage - which was logical and the right choice. However, going to Disney is not your standard vacation and you have the option of not waiting for your luggage before boarding the bus - which me took. And you can tell where I'm going with this story .​

... we left for the park without sunscreen, thinking that it wasn't a big deal and that a few hours in the sun wouldn't be the end of the world. More on this later!

We finally got our Canadian butts over to the main bus terminal, and since it was pass 1pm, the lineup for the bus was a cake walk. And then I remembered something extremely important - our tickets were special Canadian discounted tickets and it was specified that we needed to bring our passports when we visited our first park to show when we scanned our bands for the first time to prove we were Canadians and hadn't cheated the system. The bus was 10 minutes out - so I took the bag off my shoulder and left it with Emilie while I ran - and fast - to our room to get our passports. I ran as quickly as I could, I finally get to the room, scan my band and walk it and then it hit me - the stupid key for the safe (where the passports where stored) was in THE BACKPACK!!! I ran back to the stop and the bus was 5 minutes away - I gave Emilie a choice, either we went back for the passport and waited an extra 20 minutes for the bus and miss our first FP or risk showing up without our passport and hope that sweet talk and drivers license would to the trick. We decided to go double-or-nothing

So the bus arrived - on time - and after a quick 15 minutes or so bus ride, we finally made it to MK - where we realized that our bus stop was far in the furthest from the gate... of course. But what's a few more more steps when your visiting Disney

I made my way to the BAG LINE - while Emilie and Oli took the BAGLESS LINE - although the bag was extremely useful all week, I wish I could've done without it to facilitate entry into the parks.

At last we were finally here!!!


And then came the moment - it was time to scan our bands and show our passports
So we scan our bands and register our prints - and the CM wishes us a magical day... Just like that we were in - no need to prove we are from Up-North!

We finally entered the park and got the most magical view in the world - minus 1 or 2 people


I got this instant gratification and was overcome with joy - I was finally home
Oli was so excited - he loved seeing the castle in person.

After doing a quick lap in the hub it was time to hit this place for our first FP - can you guess what it is?



We only had 15 minutes left to our FP window but luckily we didn't have very far to go!


I went with a classic to start our journey - it was fun and Oli loved seeing the "animals". However, two things were off - the first is standard, the ride depends highly on the quality of the CM, and unfortunately this one didn't have the right delivery, but I still enjoyed it. But the other, is something that we had to deal with all week - we overcame it most of the time but it prevent Oli from enjoying Disney completely - we are French-Canadians, even if Emilie and I are fully bilingual, Oli only knows a few words in English and cannot understand when stories are being told or when CM/Characters are interacting with him.

This next part will be a "special"... remember when I asked if it was a good idea to visit a park on the first day?

 

[amjt660]

You probably walked up to the cm and scanned your band while saying "how's it going eh? "
And right away she knew youse was a Canuck!!!!!!

Max

 

[dmatt87]

DAY 1 - TRAVEL & MK (PART 5)
The Disney Tantrum​

We had a few minutes to kill before our next FP window opened up so we went to a ride near by - from a movie from our childhood and that Oli really enjoyed.



In theory it was a good idea - however lack of sleep, the excitement and the Florida sun got the better of us - in particular Oli. Starting our journey with a FP might of been a bad idea, it showed Oli that we didn't have to wait to ride an attraction. However, we didn't have a FP for the Magic Carpets, so we needed to wait in line - wait time was 15 minutes. But Oli wanted to ride the carpets NOW - so we got the first part of the Disney Tantrum - Oli was crying and hitting me because we couldn't ride right away. I was trying to keep my cool. I picked up and held him in my arms for a few minutes while explaining how everything worked.

I thought he understood but he continued whining until we got on the ride... Then for the next 2 minutes he was happy and laughing, like nothing had happened


Once we got off the ride, it was tantrum city once again... he didn't want to do anything but ride the carpets again - he didn't understand that we needed to wait in line and we had other things to do. The next part is a little blurry - and I'm kinda of glad that we didn't keep a record of the scene, and I hope nobody did. I remember yelling in the crowd - threatening to go back to the hotel and getting Oli a babysitter for the week. I think the heat was getting to us...

We cooled off and went to the gift show in the Agrabah Bazar to make a very important purchase... SUNSCREEN!!!
Emilie's shoulder were turning red and Oli was a little red in the face... I was good, my skin interacts well with the sun.
We got the both of them nicely covered with the FPS 60 spray - which ended up being a good thing for Emilie - she only got a minor sunburn and didn't flake. The week would've been hard otherwise - worth the 23 Canadian dollars it cost!

Then Oli saw a Moana dress and wanted it. I've always been against buying a dress for my sone - I'm a very opened and understanding father but that is where I draw a mental line. But I felt in a giving mood since we were at Disney, and we told Oli that if he was nice all week, we would get him one... Parenting 101

We then headed to our next FP


It's always fun to visit this Disney classic - although, like every time we had ridden it, it stopped during - TWICE . Once for about 6-7 minutes - luckily not in a scary area. Oli enjoyed part of it but was scared - we didn't ride it again all week.
Also, since we had a FP we missed the cue, and it's one of my favorites - but wait time was 55 minutes.

We then stopped to get a frozen lemonade on our way to our next FP. It was refreshing and delicious - I would of drank those all week! Although I did drink A LOT of lemonade at the resort.

We got to our next FP and it was great! Oli loved it and was entertained - and I always love the smell of water and gun powder!
In case you hadn't guess, we were doing POTC
All was working well and we didn't get flooded - unlike certain people (@Tuvalu )


Since we left Agrabah's Bazar earlier in the day, Oli kept telling us that he was afraid that there wouldn't be anymore Moana dresses at the store if we didn't buy it right away. It's something that he had been doing for about 6 months, he was afraid that if we didn't buy something right away, it would be sold out. So we made a deal to buy the dress right away but only give it to him at the end of the week, if he was nice. Parenting Caving-In 101 .

We showed up at the store, and there were plenty of dresses left. We need to find his size, but there weren't any left but there was one size up. Emilie decided to get Oli to try it on - and then it happened. Although Emilie was Oli's big supporter in the getting him a dress saga, once she saw him with that little red crop top, she knew that it was too much. So we told him that it wasn't suited for him but we would buy him a gift later in the week - and surprisingly he understood

It was already time to leave for our ADR in Disney Springs
But I met this guy on our way to the hub while exiting Adventureland - does anyone else see the dog on the nose?


But before leaving, we did have time for pictures in front of the castle

 

[dmatt87]

You probably walked up to the cm and scanned your band while saying "how's it going eh? "
And right away she knew youse was a Canuck!!!!!!

Max

I probably threw in 1 or 2 sorry's as well

 

[dmatt87]

DAY 1 - TRAVEL & MK (PART 6)​

Prehistoric Dinner​

Sorry for the delay - last few weeks have been quite busy at work and at home! But I'm back with an update on the story.

Once we left the gates, we made our way to the bus stop to hitch a ride to Disney Springs - and the ride felt like it took forever. There was a lof traffic so it took a few lights before actually arriving at Disney Springs. It was fun though to see 8 young gals having a bachelorette party at WDW - they all had matching shirts and they were trying to coordinate Uber's for when they got at DS. Oli is quite the ladies man - he was flirting and they were smiling at him!

Once we got to Disney Springs we have some time to kill before getting to our reservation, and I couldn't believe how much the place had changed since our last visit in 2011. I felt like I was in Beverly Hill!



While browsing in a store, I found this - and I'm sure it's not a big seller


We then did a quick at the Lego store and I got this awesome picture.


We then slowly made our way to our dinner reservations at (if you hadn't guessed with the title)

But I prefer this picture from later in the week


We showed up and the check-in was fairly quickly but waited about 10 minutes for our table, which wasn't bad since we got there about 15 minutes early. While in line Oli was thrilled to see this guy up close, especially when he roared!


We were taken to our seats, in the underwater section! I was glad not to be in the ice age, the colours changed to much and I like to see what I eat a minimum, and it's too close to the bathroom to my liking, and it's even worse when someone as been sick near the entrance

I really liked our view - but for some reason I didn't take a picture of the big aquarium


We were extremely thirsty and it took forever to get our drinks but I had the great idea of asking for a soda and a water, not to finish the soda in 30 seconds and then have to wait for our waitress. Talking about our waitress, she was very nice and attentive but unfortunately had many tables.

I was expecting much in terms of food quality but it was OK for what it was.
I had the Palezoic Chicken sandwich, Emilie had the Ceasar-saurus Grilled Chicken Salad and Oli had the Jurassic Chicken Tidbits!
Oli was very happy to get a side of corn, it's his favorite side

I love waffle fries!


Best part of the salad were the croutons! I'd have a bowl just to snack on



The restaurant was very cold - I guess the lack of sleep and the Orlando was getting to us. I finished my plate but Emilie only had half of her salad and Oli had 1 or 2 nuggets only.

Before leaving we had to make a quick pit-stop at the dig site!



We then went on the hunt to find the boat to get us back to Riverside - on the way there we met this gal who was playing piano, singing and travelling all at the same time


We got to the Landing thinking it was the right place - wrong it would take us to where we had been about 15 minutes earlier


But it was still fun to see the Amphibian cars, Emilie really loved them!


We finally got to the Marketplace and waited about 15 minutes for the next boat, since we had just missed it

We got on the boat and forgot about how tired we were and just let the magic seep in - we knew we were home


The journey was quiet but beautiful, we saw these weird webs hanging in the trees and the cabins we would love to book for a big family trip!



We finally got to our resort...


And they were showing a movie directly in our courtyard!!!


We got to our room, quickly changed into our swimsuits and visited the quiet pool that was 2 minutes from our room. It felt so good to be in the water. When we got out, me and Oli went to see about 20 minutes of the movie since he really loved tonight's feature MOANA!!!

We then headed to bed because tomorrow would be another long day!

 

[amjt660]

Glad you had a good first day
Looking forward to more
Thanks for sharing

Max

 

[dmatt87]

Hi folks! I haven't forgotten about you guys - and I can't wait to share all the remaining details of the trip!

The last month has been pretty hectic - we bought a house, sold our house, cancelled the sale of the house we bought, rented an appartement, are in the middle of packing for a mid-august move, and are shopping houses again... I'm so tired

As soon as things slow down, I will be back

 

[amjt660]

No problem my friend
TCB at home and then come back to us

TCB is a Bachman turner overdrive reference

@Tuvalu - can you get this one?

If you don't know then you ain't seen nothing yet

Max

 

[LunaBelle]

Following along!

Oli's favorite moment so far

What a precious picture! His smile just melts my heart, that's pure joy right there!

Once we got to the car, I told him that we were leaving right now for Montreal and that we were headed to WDW the next morning. He was surprised and so grateful. He litterally jumped into my arms and told me that he was very happy and that he loved me - he was holding me so tight that I didn't want to let go. My eyes were filled with tears but they were tears of joy

Those are the moments you'll all cherish for a lifetime! Such a beautiful memory

We got to our next FP and it was great! Oli loved it and was entertained - and I always love the smell of water and gun powder!

The smell of the water on Pirates is EVERYTHING

 

[Swissmiss]

I won't answer it and spoil @Tuvalu's fun - but kudos @amjt660 for the well-placed reference!