Trip Report Back in the World at POR

18 months, 18 long months and we're back at WDW. We promptly left a very soggy Gatwick behind at 11.40am and after a relatively smooth and turbulence free flight we landed at MCO at 4pm local time. The Manchester flight had arrived just before us so the wait time at immigration was a little more than I hoped for. I must say though that the new automated system worked really well and sped up the arduous procedure no end.
Even picking up the hire car was hassle free, normally we expect a battle with the representative at the desk trying to sell us upgrades, but thankfully he didn't bother.
So we exited the airport and no time later arrived at our dream destination, the Port Orleans Resort.
The check in went smoothly thanks to Amber who handled that for us and even made a call and got us a lovely corner room
More to come on today's adventure later.

 

[TB4244]

Loving your report! Blizzard Beach was closed due to weather day we had planned so trying to fit in before we have to leave. Have the remainder of a brilliant trip.

I know it was closed last Saturday as the temperature dropped below 70. But I believe it's been open every day since. Although it is raining today so it might not open.
And thank you

 

[TB4244]

Saturday was Epcot as we wanted to catch f&w as its the last weekend. We wanted to do a little bit of shopping so we didn't hit the park until midday. This was the sight that greeted us at the ticket booths

I have never seen Epcot so busy. But undeterred we went inside. As it turned out it was a very good day to visit as most people headed straight for WS which meant that Futureworld was largely empty. Every ride was a walk on, with no FPs needed, so needless to say we were chuffed. We actually got to WS 4 hours later, mind you an hour of that was spent on Ellen's Energy Adventure (which I still love). The only one we didn't try was Soarin' but that's always busy.
We spent the next few hours walking around WS taking in the sights and smells of the festival. A lot of the booths were quite crowded, Mexico had the longest line I saw, so obviously the tacos were popular. I did try the pork slider from Hawaii

That was delicious, I had set my sights on that particular treat a few weeks back so I'm glad I made the effort to grab one, yum!
We left just before illuminations as we wanted to avoid the crowds, and after nearly 9 hours in the park my feet had decided that it was time to go anyway.
I finished the day with a couple of beers at the pool bar, cheers!

 

[disneypearl]

The other interesting thing was in the building next door was the new hyenas which they acquired from Berkeley recently. They are still in quarantine right now but will be released in to public view in a month or so.

Wow! Really? That sounds so great!! Did they say where they would be once out of quarantine?

 

[TB4244]

Hmm I believe they are headed for an area on the Kilimanjaro safari. I have no idea which part though. It was cool seeing them before anyone else does.

 

[Longers]

The queues this past weekend have been mad. Here's hoping they all go home today!

 

[TB4244]

Yes agreed, we're heading for the Magic Kingdom today and staying for the (sold out) Christmas party. So that's going to be busy

 

[TB4244]

Nothing much to report for Sunday as we took an easy day especially as the crowds have been heavy over the weekend for F&W and the half marathon.
We took the boat to DTD and browsed the stores for a while, but as I've said elsewhere we took the opportunity to grab tickets for Big Hero 6 which was released Friday. This isn't scheduled for release in the UK until 30th Jan 2015, so there was no way I was waiting 3 months for it. We had just missed out on a 3d showing so we settled on 2d instead. I wasn't disappointed, it's a very entertaining movie and thanks to the huggable Baymax it has a lot of humour too. Oh stay for the post credits sequence, I won't give it away but it's worth sitting there a few minutes longer for.
The other treat we had in store was an ADR at Beaches & Cream. Unfortunately because no- one shifted from their seats on time our 7pm reservation turned into 7.50pm but it wasn't a big deal.
We were going to try the kitchen sink, but decided that was a little excessive. So we settled for the smaller equivalent

 

[TB4244]

And yes I did finish it all, with some help.
Edit: wrong pic!

 

[Tiggertoo56]

Yes agreed, we're heading for the Magic Kingdom today and staying for the (sold out) Christmas party. So that's going to be busy

We're there tonight too! Hopefully the weather will pass over by then. Every where has been really busy since we got here too. Still hasn't spoilt the fun though

 

[FlaggNL]

Hope you had a great night at the Christmas Party! If it only was just half as good as the Halloween party we had you had a marvelous time!!

 

[TB4244]

Thank you we had a fantastic time, we both really enjoyed it. I'll write up about my experiences later but we're heading out to Epcot now, Soarin' is waiting for us

 

[TB4244]

We're there tonight too! Hopefully the weather will pass over by then. Every where has been really busy since we got here too. Still hasn't spoilt the fun though

It certainly hasn't, it's busier than Id like but it hasn't made any difference to us either. I hope you enjoyed the party as much as we did.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

It certainly hasn't, it's busier than Id like but it hasn't made any difference to us either. I hope you enjoyed the party as much as we did.

We did - had a truly magical night! Unfortunately the tragical express envelope appeared this morning- time to go home tomorrow 8-( bit we will be back!!!

 

[TB4244]

Oh no... That's always a sad time, our trip is coming to an end as well, it's gone so quickly
But as you said, you will be back as will we.

 

[TB4244]

Ok my trip report has gotten a little bit behind, hey I've been busy!
But I had to post this, anyone here want to guess what it is?

 

[Longers]

Space mountain with the light on?

 

[TB4244]

It certainly is. This was Wednesday night after we watched Wishes. We jumped on the TTA and instead of being plunged into darkness in SM it was lit up in all its, ummm... Glory?

 

[TB4244]

Wow I haven't kept up with my trip report. I've been so busy during the day and had such late nights that I haven't had chance to update this. Apologies everyone.

 

[TB4244]

Ok Monday night brought Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party and they weren't kidding when they said it was sold out, I have never seen the parking lots so full, cars were even on the grass verges. But undeterred we went inside late afternoon. We had a couple of Fastpasses including Anna & Elsa (who were both really good) so we filled a couple of hours with those and general wandering. At 4pm we picked up our wristbands from outside the Princess Fairytale Hall and studied our guidemap. We saw part of the castle lighting ceremony from our table at the Plaza restaurant, I guess normally you'd see more but the view is obstructed by the green hoarding right now. We exited the restaurant just in time to grab our first cookies at Tomorrowland Terrace and we headed deeper into the park to the m&g locations. They were efficient as ever as the characters appeared at bang on the advertised time. We immediately grabbed pics with goofy, Minnie and then a lengthy wait for Donald, Daisy and Scrooge. We would have liked to see more but it was getting near parade time.
Back to main street for us and we took our place on the kerb side for the second parade. I must admit I enjoyed sitting there in front of the Enporium in the snow chatting to the family next to me. There's always such a great atmosphere and it's just so...magical.
The parade didn't disappoint, it was more spectacular than I had imagined.

 

[Tiggertoo56]

Got home yesterday with brilliant memories and if I can get to do it may do a TR! We were there on the same night - watched the parade near to Diamond Horseshoe - and the parade was fantastic. Did 7DMT and BTMR and lots of other rides too. We all watched the later one - chatting to people from just outside Boston, and had a real good time. Really enjoyed our time in WDW as usual, and can't wait to be back to see the changes which are in progress at the moment.
Enjoying your report - and hope you enjoy the remaining time of your stay.