Trip Report Jut on in! 40-year-old Best Friends' POFQ Trip, June 2019 *COMPLETED*

Hello, all!! Just got back yesterday from the World (but WHY?! is the trip over already?! I will never understand...), and I'm ready to begin our Trip Report!!

For those of you who want a refresher, or who didn't see it, HERE is our Pre-Trip report, but to summarize:

WHO: My best friend P (just turned 40 in May), and me- Amber (40). P and I went to HS together, 1 year apart, but weren't friends. We became friends when we worked together at my college bookstore in the summers after graduation. In 2001, while working at the bookstore, P (who had been to WDW several times as a child) and I (never had been) planned a trip, along with another friend of P's. This was my first trip, and I was hooked!! From then on I became the Disney expert in our friendship as the years went on and altogether before this trip, she and I (with varying combinations of friends and family members as well) went to the World 5 times (though a couple of these were just 1 day visits). We hadn't been for a full week since 2006, so we figured our 40th birthday year was time to rectify this.

This is P and I in November 2018, as she and her wife, and my husband and I happened to be in the World at the same time and met up for a few minutes:
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WHERE: Port Orleans French Quarter! I've always loved the look and smallness of this resort, but had not ever stayed here, as it isn't one my husband really ever wants to stay at. So I figured this was a good opportunity to stay there. I really loved our resort!

WHEN: Saturday, June 15th- Saturday, June 22nd. I was really excited to be going for a full week!


Hope you'll join me!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, June 15th

I got up at around 2:30am, and left at 3:15am for my drive from my town, which is about 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta. The drive is around 7 hours, so I had some podcasts downloaded, some music ready, and I was on my way! Leaving at this time usually allows me to miss any kind of Atlanta traffic, and this day was no different. No issues at all, and at around 6:20, I stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break and noted a beautiful sunrise--matching my mood! A little while later, I stopped for some gas and some drive-thru breakfast.

Mood:
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P's flight from Pittsburgh left at 9:20am, and was due to arrive at 11:35am. I was picking her up, and it was just a timing thing as to whether or not I would head to the resort first, or go straight to the airport. As it was 10:30 when I got on property, I went to POFQ, and swung through the drop-off area to unload most of my luggage with baggage service. I was unsure of how much P would be bringing, and I wanted to be sure there was room in my car for her luggage. Had my room been ready, I would have dropped it there, but no worries. I parked for a few minutes in the Visitor's Lot just to google where it was I needed to go at the airport and then I was on the way!

I parked in the Cell Phone lot (so easy to my relief) and waited around 20 minutes or so. While she was landing, exiting the plane, and getting her luggage, I was doing Very Important Things. Taking a picture of my rose gold nails with my rose gold Minnie backpack (which I thought would be what I carried in the park. I did--one day--and didn't care for it, sadly). But anyway, they matched!
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Pretty shortly, P texted to say she was at baggage claim, so I exited the cell phone lot (again, SO EASY to my relief) and picked her up. Our vacation can begin!! We dropped her luggage off at baggage services and parked the car in the Visitor Lot again (until we knew what building we were in), and went to the pool bathroom to get in our bathing suits. Before long, we were living our best lives:

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P and I laid on the chairs for a bit talking, reminiscing, and laughing. After a bit, I needed to get in the water (I get very hot and try to avoid too much sun these days), so we hopped in the pool. It felt SO good. The POFQ pool is lovely and spacious. After a bit in the pool, I needed a snack:
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We then got our room-ready text at 1:59pm, so we went to check out our room!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
We were given room 4317. Third floor of building #4, right near stairs and we thought a pretty perfect location. Very close to the bus stops, and main building/pool.
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I do love the little Disney touches that remain in WDW rooms, but wish there were more-
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The main reason that I was hoping that our room had been ready before I picked P up is because I wanted to hang this banner I'd brought from our window to surprise her. She was still surprised because I put it up when she was busy unpacking, and she loved it. It was kind of hard to photograph, but it says "Disney Besties Celebrating 40"
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We are both unpackers, so we dedicated this shelf to our hats and ears. This would grow by a couple as the week went on...
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The view outside of our room. We were near a smoking section but didn't have any issues of smoke odor in the area, so that was fine.
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After unpacking, we showered and changed to get ready for our dinner plans!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
We boarded a boat at the POFQ dock to Disney Springs--a first for P.
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What I didn't know, but learned, was that Port Orleans boats ONLY drop off and pick up at the Marketplace boat launch. DH and I having stayed a Saratoga Springs a few years ago, I was familiar with the the Landing launch. No worries, we had plenty of time before our reservation, and some shopping to do!

Armed with a mental list of items to look for for my four nephews and one niece in PA, as well as some pictures sent via text, I spent a bit of money at the Lego store on an Avengers set for my nephew for Christmas (from his parents) and a smaller Avengers set for the same nephew for his birthday from my husband and I. All 5 have birthdays from June-August, so we celebrate them in the summer when I go up.

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We also stopped in at World of Disney, where I purchased a new hat for myself, and a Dinglehopper t-shirt. P got a Mr. Toad's shirt, a bracelet and a ring. (Later in the week I returned the shirt I got because I found another I liked better and I was trying to be good money-wise. Good to know: you can return items anywhere, as long as it is a Disney-run store. I returned my unwanted shirt at my resort shop)

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We looked around Uniqlo for a few minutes, where I saw this shirt @sheriffwoody might enjoy...
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Getting closer to our dinner location
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myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
Our dinner tonight was at Raglan Road!

A light fixture for you @Doc Disney !
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We began with the bread--delicious bread with the Guinness reduction. I could just drink this stuff, so good. I had a hard time restraining myself from filling up on this alone! P has had gastric bypass surgery and so limits her carbs...she cheated a bit on this trip, but it really left me with a lot of bread to resist!

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While we waited for our food, we enjoyed the entertainment
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I went with the Braised Be Beef with Colcannon Mashed Potatoes and Roasted Veggies-- I didn't eat many of the veggies, you'll see why, but I ate every last bite of the beef and potatoes- yum! P got the Heavenly Ham (I failed to take pics of Ps food through the week. She took her own and I didn't steal those like I stole others here and there, haha!)
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I didn't eat many of the regular roasted veggies because P and I split the bacon and almond roasted sprouts. I could have had this for a meal- perfect!
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I was definitely getting full but I was on a mission because I needed what is possibly my favorite dessert- Ger's Bread & Butter Pudding.

Side Story: On our 2015 trip, DH and I ate at Raglan. We had the bread service, each our own entree, and then our own bread pudding. I was SO full but made myself finish it all. And then I was in pain- that good, but bad full feeling. It hurt to walk but was so worth it. So to this day, if DH and I are out to eat and I say "I'm full", he'll say "Raglan Road full?"...like it has become a category of fullness in our vocabulary now.

Hurts so good-
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After dinner, we worked our way back to the Marketplace boat launch and traveled back to our resort for bed. Our first park day was tomorrow!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
Sunday, June 16th

As is the case for at least the first night/morning at Disney, I sleep so well, and wake up early, well-rested, ready to start the day. So I got ready early, woke P up so she could get ready, and headed out to take some early morning pictures around the resort. Some of these are a bit misty because of my camera fogging up but I still thought they were kinda pretty.

POFQ overload!
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I am always infatuated with spanish moss, as well as the bright colors of this resort-
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A peek inside the food court
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myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
A few more before I head to bed (ugh, work in the morning)
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Then I headed back to the room when P texted that she was all set.

Magic Kingdom morning! MK had Early Morning Magic that we didn't attend, so we were rope dropping the actual opening time of MK, but aware that people would already be there that attended EMM. So P felt we should uber...she had set aside some funds just for uber-ing purposes, should we need them.

I wasn't convinced we needed to, and I would be correct, essentially. Our driver picked us up, and attempted to drop us off at the TTC. Only the entrance was blocked off, and she (our driver) didn't know what to do. I said, "just drop us off at the Poly" and she didn't know where that was, so I showed her. She said "are you sure this is ok" and I was just ready to get out, so I assured her we had it from there. We used the walking path from the Poly to the TTC. The monorail was down, so we joined the small herd to the ferry.

Ultimately, it worked out just fine and P got to arrive via ferry from the TTC for the first time. We still got there in plenty of time, and joined the people at the hub, waiting for official park opening.

And that's where we'll leave off for tonight...thanks for reading, all!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
I was so happy to be back in my favorite park!! For whatever reason, my longer trips never tend to start out at MK, so this was nice.
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While "myhappyplace" is my name here because WDW is my happy place, there is an 'official' spot that I once called my literal happy place on an early trip with P. It is right where the tracks converge just past the flag at the start of Main Street. So we had to document us standing at my happy place again.
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We saw several Main Street citizens out and about on Main Street
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Being as this was the first time I've rope dropped at Magic Kingdom since the Welcome Show moved to the castle stage (previous trips I've either entered on an early breakfast ADR or gotten there just after park open), I was not prepared camera-wise to catch the pyro, but that's ok. We were on the move!
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This is where the (not-very-creative) title comes into play. While walking in crowds (though they were relatively low, actually), we would say to one another "jut across!" if we had to cross the flow of traffic, or ask "should I jut?" if we were trying to figure out the best path around a really slow walker, or those people that like to walk like 6 across a path...

I can't really remember why I took this, but as we approached Fantasyland, the crowds were not bad at all.
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Our first goal was:
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Peter Pan's Flight! This is a personal favorite of mine, and it had been some time since I'd entered via the standby line, so I was pleased to see the queue.
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Upon exiting, we turned left with a Haunted Mansion goal in mind. The area near the Tangled restrooms was surprisingly quite empty, and we were privy to a cute moment...

Who do we come upon, but Peter Pan, walking toward the stream right before Memento Mori. He then crouched down, looking in the water, sort of muttering worriedly to himself. (He had a handler, but she stood off to the side) I inquired what he was looking for and he said "I can't find Tinker Bell...I hope she didn't fall in the water, she can't swim when her wings are wet". I assured him that we had just seen her and he asked where. We pointed to the Peter Pan's flight building and told him she was in there. He seemed relieved. We thought about asking for a photo with him, but we didn't want to interfere with him "in the wild". Crisis averted, we wished him a good morning, and moved on.
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Doc Disney

Well-Known Member
"Disney Besties Celebrating 40"

That sign is adorable ! We are celebrating my sister's 40th Birthday in December so that's definitely a great idea! I made my own window decor last time we were at POFQ but that looks much nicer :)

We are both unpackers, so we dedicated this shelf to our hats and ears. This would grow by a couple as the week went on...

I ALWAYS use that self for my ears and hats :hilarious:

A light fixture for you @Doc Disney !

Was P like...what the heck are you doing ? :joyfull:
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
Original Poster
That sign is adorable ! We are celebrating my sister's 40th Birthday in December so that's definitely a great idea! I made my own window decor last time we were at POFQ but that looks much nicer :)

I am so envious of all the people who have and can use the equipment and creativity to make signs, shirts, etc...that is definitely not something I'm good at!



Was P like...what the heck are you doing ? :joyfull:

She did ask what I was doing :hilarious: and I told her, but by the end of the week I think she was starting to get used to all of the times I referred to people here from the forum, and just the fact that I took the most random notes so I could remember for the trip report. I had to explain "trip report" to her actually!
 

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