Trip Report Did someone spit on me... or is it raining? May/June 2018

Hello and Welcome!!!

Yes friends, unfortunately (but fortunately) I am back from my 3rd and final trip of 2018... I had to make sure my annual pass went to good use

This trip was amazing and I'm so glad I was able to go back... but it left me wanting MORE!!!! More time, more Disney, more park days... TAKE ME BACK, ALREADY!!!

Since I've been home I've been working 5 days a week at my job, 30 hours a week... not enjoying my summer so far. But hey, a girl has to save for her next Disney adventure!

Daniel (who is not featured in this TR) also has landed himself a big boy job for the summer - which will turn over into an internship in the fall! They've even offered to hold his position for when he graduates next spring! I'm so happy for him and in fact he is working his last shift at his old job right now!

Enough of the boring, real life details... I know you all want to hear about this trip! So on with the show!!

To recap ---

WHO: Myself (Becca, 20) and my mom, Lynn (older than me )
WHEN: May 30th - June 3rd, 2018
WHERE: Port Orleans French Quarter
WHY: A mother-daughter adventure!

Before I start the recent photos... I just found this one from like 2010 (?) so I was like 11-12... and LOL

Hollister... flip phone... disney bus ... and Pins LOL what more could you ask for?!!?
It was too good not to share!!!

And here I am now! (except this is old too, from May 2017)

So here ya go - one last photo before I start the real thing!

That's more like it!

Ready when you are, C.B....

... Action!

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I love the Pixar area and hope they keep some of it. I hope they keep the green army men and the monkeys hanging over the street, and all the other "stuff" that makes that area special. great trip report!

 

[becca_]

Day 1 Con't:
So like I said, the rain was coming and it was coming down in BUCKETS. People around us who got stuck at bag check were DRENCHED. Literally soaking wet. We waited under the guest services area until it *seemed* to calm down a bit, except that wasn't going to happen sooo we just decided that we were gonna deal with the wetness!

We took the wet tram to the parking lot

And then it took us like 20 minutes to find our car We didn't see that they had row numbers when we left so we only remembered the general area. Good thing my phone has a feature (creepily) that knows where you parked your car and gives you directions to it!

We headed toward the outlets!
It seriously took us so long to find the stupid Disney outlet LOL

But in good time we found it!

And walked out spending $30 for some shirts and something else I can't remember LOL

Next stop was Publix for some items we needed

And then finally to our room!

The joy this sign gives me....

Next - POFQ!

 

[becca_]

I love the Pixar area and hope they keep some of it. I hope they keep the green army men and the monkeys hanging over the street, and all the other "stuff" that makes that area special. great trip report!

I hope so too! I especially love the scrabble board.

 

[becca_]

Wednesday Con't:
Soon after we drove under the most wonderful sign, we were arriving at our home for the rest of the week!

We were in Building 7, 3rd floor.

I'm 90% sure this wasn't a refurbished room but it was seriously nice enough already!! (We saw them refurbing rooms so not sure what the deal is with that)

We had a great view! Sometimes I wish moderates had a balcony but honestly we didn't spend a lot of time in the room anyway.

I do love the double sinks! They make it so much easier to get ready in the morning.

Note - the sun was out!

Overall, I was pretty impressed with our room! It was clean and we never heard anyone else. The beds were especially comfy and I *think* Daniel and I may stay here next June. The small size of the resort (and only 1 bus stop) is very desirable to me

Next - Disney Springs!

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We stayed at POFQ this past Feb/March and loved it. I confess that we missed our home resort though, POR. We just love that place, but FQ was very nice too. We got a newly refurbished room in bldg. 2 which was very nice.

 

[geekza]

Thanks for sharing! If you end up using the buses to get to the parks, let us know about how long it takes, etc. We're staying at PO:R in November and will also have a car. I'm debating whether or not it's worth driving to the parks or if we should just take the buses.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Thanks for sharing! If you end up using the buses to get to the parks, let us know about how long it takes, etc. We're staying at PO:R in November and will also have a car. I'm debating whether or not it's worth driving to the parks or if we should just take the buses.

I know POR gets a bad rap about the buses. But honestly, we have been there many times and have not had a problem with them at all. Maybe we were just lucky, I don't know. We always use the bus stop closest to our room, wherever that is. The last 2 times we were by West Depot and it was fine. Lots of people think West Depot is faster or first ? but it was getting crowded as people are coming to it from all the other stops and therefore making it more crowded. Whew, did you get that????
We never drive and always use Disney buses. We have stayed at CS and POFQ and I didn't notice any difference in the wait times. But we always go in November before TG, first week or 2 of December, or most recently end of Feb/first of March, so those are supposed to be slower times. Hope this helps.

 

[becca_]

Thanks for sharing! If you end up using the buses to get to the parks, let us know about how long it takes, etc. We're staying at PO:R in November and will also have a car. I'm debating whether or not it's worth driving to the parks or if we should just take the buses.

I was at RS last May (2017) and we had really bad bus luck. This trip as you'll see we rarely waited on a bus. I think it really just depends because I've had so many great trips with no waits but also have had 30 minute waits for each bus The only advice I really could give is that if POR has a HUGE line... take FQ's bus! The distance between the 2 is not far (unless you have little ones that can't walk/you won't be using a stroller). MK I would NOT drive to ever

 

[Tuvalu]

You did not have a refurbished room. You can see the difference in my pics from April:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/i-vowed-never-again-yet-here-we-are-completed.939332/page-4

 

[becca_]

You did not have a refurbished room. You can see the difference in my pics from April:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/i-vowed-never-again-yet-here-we-are-completed.939332/page-4

That's what I figured, we saw them loading HUGE TVs (like the one pictured) into rooms, but all of our furniture looked new so I wasn't 100% sure

 

[Tuvalu]

That's what I figured, we saw them loading HUGE TVs (like the one pictured) into rooms, but all of our furniture looked new so I wasn't 100% sure

Yeah it wasn’t a total refurb of all the furniture.

 

[LeighM]

Thanks for sharing! If you end up using the buses to get to the parks, let us know about how long it takes, etc. We're staying at PO:R in November and will also have a car. I'm debating whether or not it's worth driving to the parks or if we should just take the buses.

You could probably drive to the parks faster but there is a lot of construction going on around WDW right now and that might make things stressful, especially if you aren't very familiar with the roads. I've seen long lines of cars at Animal Kingdom trying to get through the gates (because of Pandora) and the buses just go through their dedicated line to miss it. The parking lot at Hollywood Studios was horrible in March and we had a long wait to get off the bus because of it. You probably don't want to drive to MK because you'll have to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center and then ride the monorail or ferry to get to MK. Buses to MK are definitely quicker. I've stayed at Riverside 4 times and never had a problem with the buses at the resort, except for the morning bus to Epcot. But I also had issues with the morning Epcot bus at Coronado as well. The thing to remember about Riverside is that the them park bus stop order is West Depot, North Depot, East Depot, South Depot. At one time, there was a MK bus that would only stop at South Depot but I don't know if that is still happening. The Disney Springs bus starts at South Depot. During our stay in 2016, I requested a room close to the West Depot (in Alligator Bayou) and it was the best location for us. We were the first bus stop so the bus was empty when it got there and we always got a seat. Plus we were the first ones off at the end of the day. Our room was only a 2 minute walk away. Once the bus left the resort, we had a 15 minute drive to MK, Epcot, and HS with Animal Kingdom being the longest at about 25 minutes depending on traffic and lights. However, Riverside does have very long lines at the parks at the end of the day! In previous trips, we would take the French Quarter bus and walk to Riverside (when we stayed in the nearby Magnolia Bend section. But if you're in the West Depot area of Alligator Bayou then that would be a very far walk.

 

[blreinsel]

Hm who could this remind me of?? @blgauger

It seriously took us so long to find the stupid Disney outlet LOL

I had the same problem the first time I went. But now I can find it with my eyes closed... that has *nothing* to do with the excessive number of times I've gone.

 

[geekza]

The only advice I really could give is that if POR has a HUGE line... take FQ's bus! The distance between the 2 is not far (unless you have little ones that can't walk/you won't be using a stroller).

It's just my wife and I, but she's a (literal) marathon runner and I resemble Baymax from Big Hero 6. She's looking forward to watching me be forced to walk several miles a day. The way I look at it, Disney is a great motivator for weight loss.

 

[becca_]

It's just my wife and I, but she's a (literal) marathon runner and I resemble Baymax from Big Hero 6. She's looking forward to watching me be forced to walk several miles a day. The way I look at it, Disney is a great motivator for weight loss.

Lol, it really is!! Plus you'll be toning your legs as you walk

 

[becca_]

Day 1 con't:
After we unpacked, I realllllly wanted to take a nap but that was not on the agenda... yet

We headed to grab some refillable mugs. I honestly think these are a good deal (yes expensive but you get to keep the cup!!!)

I got a coke (obviously) and my mom got a diet coke! I'm the only one in my family who hates diet pop

We walked back to the room and it started sprinkling justtttt a little bit.

And finally I was able to nap for like 20 minutes

Got back up and got refreshed since we had dinner plans to make!

I'll have to look soon but I know for a fact I have a picture of me with these guys from like 2005 when I was just a lil one!!!

Next - Disney Springs & dinner!

 

[becca_]

Disney Springs Con't:
We decided to take the boat over to DS since the buses for some reason always take so long to arrive.

As you can tell by the water, it started to rain again as we were waiting

Cute!!!

We put on our rain jackets/ponchos and managed to stay pretty dry! The boat ride over was great and fine except for this one teenage girl (15-16?) who was so snotty and annoying. We had sat on a bench on the boat and left space because it was all wet and we didn't want wet bottoms. She basically pushed us out of the way and was so rude about it. Okay... whatever!!

Got to DS and ducked in some stores since the rain was coming down pretty good!

Look at this cute ornament!!!!!!!

Finally our dinner spot! We were a little early but we checked in anyway and we got sat within 10 minutes.

We both ordered the Art's Famous Fried chicken and got a side of mac & cheese to split!

Okay. This was beyond words. SOOOO GOOD!!! Expensive but good. We decided we would split one meal next time instead. The only "bad" thing was the biscuit was really dry and flavorless. I like Red Lobsters version better

Next - more DS!

 

[becca_]

Disney Springs Con't:
After dinner we decided to head to the Ganachery since I've never been & my Mom loves it! It was still raining

Mom got some chocolates and I got a s'more.

If you've never done this before, they give you a sign with your name on it at the register. Then you hold it up at the window and you can watch them make it!

Artsy!

Let me tell you. OMG. This was seriously LIFE CHANGING. I will not eat another s'more as good as this one. Jeeze. It was worth the $8.

As if that wasn't enough for my sweet tooth, I needed a cupcake!!

I got red velvet and Mom got a coconut one! We didn't eat them right away.

Uniqlo was the next stop, we both got 3-4 shirts each! I love this store. It finalllly stopped raining when we left.

Onto the Disney Corner which had nothing that caught my eye...

And then to World of Disney, but first we saw a living statue (is that the name?) He was pretty cool!!

Next - more DS!

 

[LeighM]

My husband is addicted to Diet Coke and I think it's disgusting! The artificial sweetener leaves such a bad aftertaste. And your pictures of Homecomin have me regretting us not going in March. I just love their shrimp and grits

 

[becca_]

My husband is addicted to Diet Coke and I think it's disgusting! The artificial sweetener leaves such a bad aftertaste. And your pictures of Homecomin have me regretting us not going in March. I just love their shrimp and grits

I have the biggest sweet tooth ever so diet just doesn't cut it for me!! Homecomin' was DELICIOUSSSS!! I feel the regret - Daniel & I were supposed to go in January but didn't