Trip Report Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, It's Back to the World We Go! *COMPLETED*

Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely. I am your host ~ your trip report host. Here in the following pages you'll see how the Tuvalu family survived Spring Break 2017. Kindly sit back and relax please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now......

Well, that's not exactly true. You are free to FIND YOUR WAY OUT at any time. Although I hope you stick around for the tour. There's bound to be drama.

The deets:
Cast: Moi (Tuvalu), Benevolent Husband (Woody), and the only reason we braved Spring Break madness ~ our Teacher Daughter (Em)
Dates: April 1-8, 2017
Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter

Along the way you'll encounter the slowest cast members ever hired by Disney. Farewell performances of Wishes (were there tears?) The awesome Blue Angels flyover. A Magic meet-up with another mother/daughter pair equally obsessed with WDW as Em and me. And the BEST TRANSPORTATION EVER.

You'll also discover the answers to the following questions: Are Spring Break crowds really that bad? (I'll give you a hint......YES.) What the heck happened to the Trolley? And the flagpole? Is the Red Card really gone? Can you get a same-day ADR for Be Our Guest? What about 'Ohana?

And the most-pressing question of all: Will Woody be doomed to sit on a hard chair in our room chained to his PC and phone all week?

Now as they say, "Look alive" and we'll continue our little tour.

 

[Tuvalu]

These next pictures are for @Longers only.
(Though she probably won't mind if you peek.)

LOVE THE LAST CAR!!!!!!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Woody sat out the next attraction. I wasn't able to get him a FP for it, but even if I had he would have passed. He prefers not to get wet on rides.

Epic fail on our "Let's make a heart!" attempt.

 

[Courtney6682]

(Man to CM) "Does this train go to other parks?"

Hopefully the CM had a little fun and said, ''Yes...it whisks u right over to Universal.''

 

[Tuvalu]

Love this ^^^^^^^

 

[Doc Disney]

No sweet potato fries IS a deal breaker! Maybe not.. we'll see. I never judge a restaurant by a review of servers. Everybody has off nights! My dad is in the food industry so I'm possibly even more patient in those situations than the average person. However, taking deliciousness off the menu is NOT something I handle well.

Our service was great when we went a few weeks ago...the lack of sweet potato fries was a huge bummer for me but the pot roast was delightful so in the end it was still great!

(Man to CM) "Does this train go to other parks?"

I really want to make a book about a. light fixtures at Disney and b. ridiculous things people say

 

[amjt660]

Epic fail on our "Let's make a heart!" attempt.
View attachment 200034

Even if it did not look like a heart it still looks good

Consider it to be an overhead fist bump!!!

Max

 

[WDWDarling]

I'm impressed by anyone who can do something fun on a ride photo. DH and I are not coordinated enough for that lol.

 

[amjt660]

It just takes a little planning and communication
Something my DW does not always get.

DD (C) and I tried to do the sleeping on Tower one time - DW (T) did not get with the program

And another time on Space at DLR we agreed (almost) to pull our hoodies down like Anakin from Star Wars Ep 3
(Space mountain was themed with Star wars effects)
Well 3 out of 4 got the memo........

Max

 

[LeighM]

I found the same stream in Magic Kingdom during our trip March 2014. It was so pretty. It would've been nice if they had a park bench there

 

[joshsprincess921]

You may as well keep to your schedule. This TR may take awhile.


Great! You'll be home soon, right?


Gold star for you!

12 more days

 

[Tuvalu]

I found the same stream in Magic Kingdom during our trip March 2014. It was so pretty. It would've been nice if they had a park bench there View attachment 200065 er

Wow!! I love the pink and purple flowers in your pic!

 

[Tuvalu]

12 more days

14 for me
Hope our paths cross!

 

[Tuvalu]

Sunday, con't

For those of you wondering about MK crowds on this spring break day, the morning was not bad at all. We are not so much bothered by long attraction lines ~ it's the shoulder-to-shoulder walking through the park and restroom lines out the door that overwhelm us. Now that the afternoon had begun, the pathways in Frontierland were reaching the too-close-for-comfort stage for us.

"I have an idea," I said to Woody and Em. "Why don't we take the boat to WL and get drinks at the new Geyser Point Bar? It's quite lovely from the pictures I've seen. It will get us out of the crowds and we can sit and relax and enjoy this beautiful weather."

"Sounds great!" they both agreed.

Guess what we found on our way out.....THE MISSING FLAGPOLE!!!!!!

There were a lot of people waiting for the WL boat when we arrived and so we were unable to grab a seat on the outer deck. Sitting inside is not usually a problem when the a/c is running, but today it wasn't. And the windows were barely cracked open. It was a humid, stuffy, not-so-fun ride to the lodge.

Thoughts of a cold, refreshing libation at Geyser Point kept us going.

Much like the Oasis Bar and Grill at the Poly, Geyser Point has a take-out window for food.

The menu:

But there were no tables around to dine at. Perhaps when the new pool is finished there will be tables? It seemed so odd. Then we walked into the actual bar.

View from inside the bar:

Beautiful, right? Evidently we weren't the only ones to think so, as there NO PLACE for us to sit. Not a chair, stool, bench or even a low wall. Most folks were eating food from the Grill....as much as that frustrated us, it was understandable since where else were they supposed to eat? There wasn't even space to squeeze in at the bar to order drinks and we did not see any servers.

My "great" idea was a bust.

"I think I'm dehydrated," said Em. "I just want a bottle of water."

We did an about-face and got some water from the Grill. We decided to cool off in the WL lobby.

DVC side still walled off.

I see you, Mr. Raccoon!

 

[Tuvalu]

We sat and rested for awhile. When we felt refreshed, we went to check out the Mercantile.

Em had forgotten to pack her MU ball cap, so she found a hat in here that she liked. As she was paying, I noticed this case of treats beside the register.

I am guessing this is temporary since Roaring Fork is closed for refurbishment.

 

[LeighM]

They moved the flagpole?!

 

[Tuvalu]

We decided to get on whatever bus arrived first and make the transfer to POFQ from there. It was a Studios bus and we ended up having our own private ride from the Studios to POFQ.

Our evening plan had us going to Disney Springs. Em had a very important purchase to make and we wanted to try someplace new for dinner. Besides, we always enjoy a good boat ride ~ one of the many reasons we like staying at POFQ.

Clearly it had been a long time since a boat had been by! We joined the end of this long line and waited. And waited. And waited. A boy ahead of us in line even had time to run back to his room and change his shirt and make it back before a boat arrived. (Why the change? His mom was aghast to learn this was day #4 of his wearing the same unwashed shirt. Did I mention the boy was a middle schooler? You know, the time of life when young males are so adept at personal hygiene. )

We were thankful there was room for us on the boat when it arrived 35 minutes later. (What was it I said about a good boat ride?)

Now the boat drops off at a very convenient location to Earl of Sandwich (one of our usuals) or any other restaurant in the Marketplace section. But of course the restaurant we were trying tonight was nowhere near here. In fact, we weren't even sure where it was located. After wandering around like tourists, we finally pulled up the map on MDE and followed the step-by-step directions.

It was Geyser Point all over again. Not a table indoors. Not a table outdoors. The three of us split up in hopes of catching a family leaving.

Several minutes later, either Woody or Em (not sure which one, just know it wasn't me!) spied moving patrons and claimed the table. Em held the table while Woody and I went inside to order.

It was a perfect people-watching table!

All of us ordered the same thing ~ chicken and chips. I had read some reviews of the yumminess of the battered chicken. Each basket contained two large pieces of chicken with an ample amount of fries (oops, sorry @Longers, chips!!) I thought it was a good value for $9.95.

Oh, how I wanted to love this chicken (sorry, @mlegerto ). I really did. It had a nice crunchy crust and the chicken was fairly moist, but there was absolutely NO flavor. Now there was vinegar to sprinkle on and tartar sauce for dipping, but I am a purist and believe chicken tenders/planks/nuggets should stand on their own. Any sauce should merely accentuate the flavor, not be the flavor. We have a local restaurant that hand-batters fresh chicken tenders when you order and Cookes chicken is not even in the same league. (I'd like to say the chips made up for the chicken, but I can't....)

Oh well ~ it was fun dining al fresco and dinner was cheap by Disney standards, and now we can cross Cookes of Dublin off our bucket list.

 

[Tuvalu]

They moved the flagpole?!

Temporarily. More to come.

 

[gdisneyfans]

Loving your report so far - can't wait for more

 

[LadyBelle]

I felt the same way about the Fish and Chips at Raglan Road. I asked my friend, who had eaten at an actual pub in Dublin, if maybe I was missing something and she said that fish and chips should have some sort of flavor. And the tartar sauce was not enough to make up for the blandness. So I've scratched Raglan Road and (now) Cookes off my list.

I do have one (probably dumb) question: With you being APs, are you required to pay for park hoppers? Or is that included in your annual membership? Just curious, as I'm not sure being an AP would work out for me $$$-wise.

 

[Tuvalu]

I felt the same way about the Fish and Chips at Raglan Road. I asked my friend, who had eaten at an actual pub in Dublin, if maybe I was missing something and she said that fish and chips should have some sort of flavor. And the tartar sauce was not enough to make up for the blandness. So I've scratched Raglan Road and (now) Cookes off my list.

I do have one (probably dumb) question: With you being APs, are you required to pay for park hoppers? Or is that included in your annual membership? Just curious, as I'm not sure being an AP would work out for me $$$-wise.

Glad to hear it wasn't just me who found the flavor lacking!

APs include park hopping. You can pay extra to add the water parks. An AP is cost-effective if you take 2 or more trips per year....or one trip longer than 10 days.