Trip Report It's the same old, same old......

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

RESORT:

"READING" OF THE SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS:

MATCHING SHOES:

MORNING WALKS:

MDE NOT FUNCTIONING:

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, ANOTHER FLIGHT DELAY...

WHAT'S CHANGED:

WHEN: Tuesday, September 18th-Saturday, September 22nd

WHY: Passholder Play Time

If you're tired of the same old, same old & would like to excuse yourself from this one I get it. No hard feelings, really... Considering this is my third TR in 3 months & not too much changes with us I'm sure you feel like you know my family & I as well as your own!! I guess that could be good or bad...

Anyhow, for those who are going to stick around thanks for reading & welcome!!

 

[winstongator]

I am going to try to get pictures in pictures from now on.

 

[MegRuss626]

Gotta love Detective Stabler. The show just isn't the same without him.....

Amen!

 

[Rista1313]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

Our flight landed about 10 minutes early & soon we were headed to the ME!!
View attachment 320493

J did the honors of scanning his band. The CM told us that he wasn't scheduled for the ME for that day. He was scheduled for the 20th!! "That's tomorrow", I thought. Oh no--what is going on?? Did they somehow lose our reservations?? I started to panic inside. E realized that when the CM said the 20th he meant August 20th(the day they arrived the month before)not September 20th. He got it straightened out without much difficulty & we were on our way. That was good but the whole thing still didn't make sense.
View attachment 320494

No lines for DME!!
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And we got one of the new "Disney Magical Express" buses!!
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Can someone please explain this stop sign to me? Is it really supposed to be this way b/c it's been like this forever.....
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I felt like I was still on the plane with that brand new scent!!
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We're ready to go home!!
View attachment 320499

When Gus appeared on the video our driver got on and made this statement, "Yeah, I'm Randy. I'm better than Gus even though he's famous." I think Randy may be a little jealous of Gus
View attachment 320500

About 10 minutes before we arrived on property I got the text that my room was ready. Kinda late huh--7:07 p.m.?
View attachment 320501


Here was the scarier part--when I looked at the app under my reservation number it showed the guests for that reservation as being E & J. My name was nowhere to be found. We had two separate reservations. How did they end up on mine??? MDE was scaring me more & more by the minute......
View attachment 320502

Oh I'm doing some worrying for you.

 

[riverside]

So I think it is a handheld stop sign being stored there for when they need it

Great thinking Max!!

I am going to try to get pictures in pictures from now on.

Haha!! Dare I say I've started a new trend

Amen!

He was the best!!

Oh I'm doing some worrying for you.

Thanks--it's so frustrating b/c I've had issues with it the last few trips. It's all too fresh in my mind....

 

[riverside]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

My attempt at getting a picture of the sign was simply awful so I'll spare you that one.

Our DME was only making stops at FQ & Riverside.
Hello FQ!!

I swear my heart rate increases when I get that first glimpse of Riverside!!

A glimpse of a carriage ride.

The sky was looking a bit scary but that's ok--I was home!!

I was in heaven!!

I just love this picture. It's now my desktop picture on one of my work computers. It helps to get me through some rough days!!

After taking in the beauty of Riverside for a bit we made our way to our rooms. I was a bit anxious to see who was going to be able to get in what room after what we were seeing on MDE.

E & I were in the same building that I was in the month before.

 

[amjt660]

Picture of a phone taking a picture?
Not bad

How about a selfie of someone else taking a selfie??!!!??

Throwback Thursday - Osborne lights!!

Max

 

[riverside]

Picture of a phone taking a picture?
Not bad

How about a selfie of someone else taking a selfie??!!!??

Throwback Thursday - Osborne lights!!

View attachment 320586

Max

Love it!!

 

[LMSB]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH--DEPARTURE DAY!!

So, let me start by saying that Southwest's flight times were not the greatest. We only fly nonstop to Orlando b/c it's really only a 2 hour flight so we can't see the point in wasting half a day or more having a connection. Plus, having a connection increases the chances of flight delays, lost luggage etc. With that being said it also means that we don't have as many choices when it comes to flight times. There were 3 nonstops from Pittsburgh that day. The first one was at 6:00 a.m.--not a big fan of that one plus that one would be really tough on J. The second one was at 4:10 & the last one was at 7:00. We booked the 4:10 flight. Since we didn't have to leave for the airport until 1:15 I had 6 hours to kill at work. Lucky me!! At least it made the time go by fast. Far better than staring at the clock waiting to leave.

Since MDE has been such a friend lately(yeah right!!) I took pictures of my FP's & times on the computer screen a few days prior to leaving. Very wise move on my part b/c when I logged on that morning at work this is what I found:
View attachment 320448
So here I am--24 hours away from my first FP of the trip & MDE claims I haven't made any yet......

I left work and drove to E's house around 12:45. Her husband loaded up the car & we were on our way about 1:10. On the way to the airport J asked me if I wanted to play a game. He would say, "I see something that you don't see and it's (a color)." So then I would guess what he was looking at. When it was my turn I told him I wasn't going to use a color. I said, "I see something that you don't see and it's over there." I pointed to a few buildings that were blocked by trees for the most part. He told me, "I know, that's where Uncle R works." I was quite impressed--J has only been to R's work one time!!

E's husband had us at the airport by 1:40. We said our goodbyes, checked our bags at curbside & headed to security only to find the TSA Precheck line looking like this:
View attachment 320449
The line actually stretched back further than this. We couldn't believe how long it was but the good news is that we got through it in about 10 minutes.

Someone's excited to go to Disney!!
View attachment 320450
J is always excited to go to Disney but I commented to E that he seemed super excited this time. He kept talking about all the things he was going to ride. He had a different level of enthusiasm than he normally does. He really seemed into this trip!!

On the "monorail".
View attachment 320451

When we got off the "monorail" J led the way to his favorite store at the airport. He gets a car from this store every time he goes to the airport.
View attachment 320452

He picked a Camaro this time.
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A week before we left I found a little purse type thing(I forgot I had it) in my car. It has tons of gift cards in it. One of them was a gift card to TGI Friday's. There really isn't one by me so I made sure to bring it so I could use it at the airport.

E ordered potstickers & a spinach dip. I ordered fried shrimp & french fries.
View attachment 320454

While we were eating an announcement kept being made. It was something along the lines of there being something active going on in a certain section of the airport. That area of the airport would need to be cleared while it was investigated so we should notice more traffic than normal in the section of the airport that we were in. We never heard what was going on but hearing that announcement(multiple times) made E & I both nervous.
View attachment 320455
Neither E or I were too impressed with the food. Also, when I went to pay the bill our waitress told me that they don't take TGI Friday's gift cards

J wanted to go to the Sarris candy store. We each got a piece of chocolate.
View attachment 320456

The lady who waited on us gave each of us a free pretzel!!
View attachment 320457

J looks a lot like you in these pictures! Looking forward to this TR

 

[riverside]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

Our rooms were about 15 doors apart which wasn't too bad. With bated breath we headed to E & J's room first to see who would be able to get in. Her band got her into that room-whew!! I headed to my room to see what fate awaited me. We planned to meet a few minutes later to get something to eat.

With fingers crossed I made my way to my room. I also got in without any issues!!

I know you're used to seeing these from me but enjoy anyways....

Gotta watch the must dos!!

Notice the four pillows on this bed....

This one only had three. I slept in this one so I took a pillow from the other bed so that I had four(not really sure why I did that to begin with b/c I only use two of them). The next day after mousekeeping was there she took the fourth pillow & put it back on the other bed so I was down to three again on this one. This went on every day--it was kind of strange.

There was a piece missing off the pump for the body wash. It made quite the mess. The next morning I ran into my mousekeeper outside & I mentioned it to her. I had also left a note in the room about it. She told me that she didn't think that it could be fixed. OK then. I'm thinking she may have misunderstood what I was saying b/c when I came back later that day it was fixed.

I actually LOVE these bath products. I used to order them through the mail all the time. Once the box showed up & one of them had leaked. That was a complete mess. For some reason you can't order them through the mail anymore so I stock up while I'm in Disney.

A few years ago I had bought a bunch & packed them in my suitcase. Right before the TE got there I ran into Fulton's to get one more of each of the shampoo, conditioner, body wash & lotion. And where did genius me put them? In my carry on of course Of course the red flag went up as I was going through security. I was told to go check them in or pitch them. I wasn't going to check them in--I had already had a bit of hassle with that(more on that in a second). I asked the TSA agent if he had a wife. He told me no. I told him to find someone that does & give it to them b/c it killed me to see $100.00 in products go in the trash. As for check in---on that particular trip we were not eligible to check in at POR for our flight home. The reason being is b/c we didn't fly the same airline both ways. We always flew Air Tran to Disney. Then they merged with Southwest. Lucky us--Air Tran was still using that name on our flight down. They merged while we were there so our return flight was Southwest. That made us ineligible for resort check in. So--needless to say I had my luggage with me--why didn't I put the bath products in there??? To make matters worse my suitcase was overweight & I had to pay a $75.00 overweight luggage fee. The bath product drama happened 10 minutes later. To lose almost $200.00 in a matter of 15 minutes & have absolutely nothing to show for it was upsetting to say the least.

After checking out the room I headed out to meet E & J.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Yikes, you were making me nervous about your MDE experiences! We go in less than 2months, so anxiety ensues!

Glad things turned out for you, so far, so please be easy on my nerves

Looking at the POR pictures makes me so homesick for POR. POFQ is fine, but I love POR, it is home.

Looking forward to more. BTW, J is such a cutie. I love that age for Disney, all wide-eyed and wonder at everything!

 

[Rista1313]

I actually LOVE these bath products. I used to order them through the mail all the time. Once the box showed up & one of them had leaked. That was a complete mess. For some reason you can't order them through the mail anymore so I stock up while I'm in Disney.

I'm confused, you can still buy them on shopdisney.com?

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Following

 

[riverside]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

We headed to The Riverside Mill to grab some dinner.

Please excuse the blurry picture. I'm a very high strung individual & tend to do most things in a hurry. I'm sure I was snapping away while walking fast paced & this is the result.

We really enjoy The Riverside Mill. It has a nice variety of food. I really enjoy the "Make Your Own Pasta" section. Unfortunately I didn't have any this trip though.

E got a cheese flatbread for her & J. I went with the Margherita flatbread. Anything with basil & fresh mozzarella is right up my alley!! I've had this flatbread many times & it doesn't disappoint!!

The River Roost was starting to fill up. Not for Bob though--he's not there on Tuesdays.

We looked around in Fulton's to see if there was anything new since our last trip. Negative....

E wanted to make sure J's band was in working order for his FP's given what happened earlier with the ME. I believe they had to reset something with his band but she was assured everything was fine.
E & J are on the left side in this picture. It looks like she had already made a purchase at Fulton's. J's enjoying the television.

The fuel rod station is in the lobby there. We both wanted to swap ours out for fresh ones. If you recall from my previous TR's this one is always empty. E put hers in first & got another one. Then it was my turn:

The screen went blank & it rejected mine Maybe it's just me......

They recently started doing a trivia night on Tuesday evenings at The River Roost. We had thought about staying for a bit but we were tired. It looked like fun though!!

J's funny--I guess we were walking too slow for him so he kept going ahead of us since he knows the way!!

I arrived back to my room to find that my luggage had been delivered. I texted E & she said they didn't have theirs. Theirs ended up arriving about 20 minutes later. I was concerned about what time it would arrive since we had a later flight but it worked out pretty well!!

 

[riverside]

J looks a lot like you in these pictures! Looking forward to this TR

I never noticed that. I'll have to tell E you said that. I have 11 nieces & nephews & so many people say 3 of the girls look like they could be mine. I don't notice it but when someone pulls out pictures of me from when I was young & puts them next to their pictures we look like we could be the same person!! Thanks for reading!!

Yikes, you were making me nervous about your MDE experiences! We go in less than 2months, so anxiety ensues!

Glad things turned out for you, so far, so please be easy on my nerves

Looking at the POR pictures makes me so homesick for POR. POFQ is fine, but I love POR, it is home.

Looking forward to more. BTW, J is such a cutie. I love that age for Disney, all wide-eyed and wonder at everything!

The MDE Experiences were driving me crazy!! I'll keep my fingers crossed that you'll have better luck than I did!!

I couldn't agree more--POR is home!!

Thanks!! J is a lot of fun to be around. When he was around one he was pretty standoffish around me. The few times I babysat him E would have him in bed before I got there so he wouldn't know that I was there watching him. I think going to Disney with him so much has helped us to have a better relationship. He used to get upset when she would leave him with me so she could go to the bathroom & now he asks to go on rides with just me. That's progress for sure!! E & I figured out on our way home at the end of the trip that he has been to Disney World 9 times & I've been on every trip with him!!

I'm confused, you can still buy them on shopdisney.com?

I've tried but the last few times I've checked it says that it's an in park purchase only

Following

Thank you!! I hope you enjoy it!!

 

[Rista1313]

I've tried but the last few times I've checked it says that it's an in park purchase only

Hmm doesn't say that now.. but I'm guessing your all stocked up!

 

[riverside]

Hmm doesn't say that now.. but I'm guessing your all stocked up!

I was on the shop Disney parks app. I just saw what you said & checked the shopdisney.com site. Thanks for the tip!! I'm starting to run low on shower gel!!

 

[krisri18]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH

Our rooms were about 15 doors apart which wasn't too bad. With bated breath we headed to E & J's room first to see who would be able to get in. Her band got her into that room-whew!! I headed to my room to see what fate awaited me. We planned to meet a few minutes later to get something to eat.

With fingers crossed I made my way to my room. I also got in without any issues!!
View attachment 320588

I know you're used to seeing these from me but enjoy anyways....
View attachment 320589

View attachment 320590

Gotta watch the must dos!!
View attachment 320591

View attachment 320592

View attachment 320593

Notice the four pillows on this bed....
View attachment 320594

This one only had three. I slept in this one so I took a pillow from the other bed so that I had four(not really sure why I did that to begin with b/c I only use two of them). The next day after mousekeeping was there she took the fourth pillow & put it back on the other bed so I was down to three again on this one. This went on every day--it was kind of strange.
View attachment 320595

There was a piece missing off the pump for the body wash. It made quite the mess. The next morning I ran into my mousekeeper outside & I mentioned it to her. I had also left a note in the room about it. She told me that she didn't think that it could be fixed. OK then. I'm thinking she may have misunderstood what I was saying b/c when I came back later that day it was fixed.
View attachment 320596
I actually LOVE these bath products. I used to order them through the mail all the time. Once the box showed up & one of them had leaked. That was a complete mess. For some reason you can't order them through the mail anymore so I stock up while I'm in Disney.

A few years ago I had bought a bunch & packed them in my suitcase. Right before the TE got there I ran into Fulton's to get one more of each of the shampoo, conditioner, body wash & lotion. And where did genius me put them? In my carry on of course Of course the red flag went up as I was going through security. I was told to go check them in or pitch them. I wasn't going to check them in--I had already had a bit of hassle with that(more on that in a second). I asked the TSA agent if he had a wife. He told me no. I told him to find someone that does & give it to them b/c it killed me to see $100.00 in products go in the trash. As for check in---on that particular trip we were not eligible to check in at POR for our flight home. The reason being is b/c we didn't fly the same airline both ways. We always flew Air Tran to Disney. Then they merged with Southwest. Lucky us--Air Tran was still using that name on our flight down. They merged while we were there so our return flight was Southwest. That made us ineligible for resort check in. So--needless to say I had my luggage with me--why didn't I put the bath products in there??? To make matters worse my suitcase was overweight & I had to pay a $75.00 overweight luggage fee. The bath product drama happened 10 minutes later. To lose almost $200.00 in a matter of 15 minutes & have absolutely nothing to show for it was upsetting to say the least.

View attachment 320597

After checking out the room I headed out to meet E & J.

Wow! And I thought the time my brother forgot the Flame Tree BBQ sauce bottle was in is carry-on was bad!! I wonder what TSA does with all of the items people have to ditch at security. Raffle them off? Donate them? Xmas gifts?

 

[riverside]

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH

I took my time heading out for my walk the next morning. I know J sleeps a little later & part of my plan was to pick something up for him.

How beautiful!!

I would assume some kind of work or testing of some sort was being done. There were tons of flags all over the property.

Riverside is especially beautiful early when it's nice and quiet.

So, my mission for J was to get him a beignet. Last trip I misunderstood the message that E tried to convey to me & J thought I was bringing him a "donut" and I had left it in the room. I'll never forget the look on his face when he found out I didn't have it. He did end up getting it but it was later in the day when it wasn't as fresh. I felt awful but I was determined to make it up to him today!!

With the beignets in hand I headed back.

This just might be one of my favorite views of Riverside.

 

[winstongator]

Great thinking Max!!

Haha!! Dare I say I've started a new trend

He was the best!!

Thanks--it's so frustrating b/c I've had issues with it the last few trips. It's all too fresh in my mind....

I'm loving the oft overlooked elements of your pictures! In the first one of your next post, you can see J's reflection in the DME bus window.

 

[winstongator]

Picture of a phone taking a picture?
Not bad

How about a selfie of someone else taking a selfie??!!!??

Throwback Thursday - Osborne lights!!

View attachment 320586

Max

I'll approve that!

I miss the Osborne lights a lot more than I thought I would. GE will be worth it though.