Now that's what I'm talking about! Our magical May trip report.

Hi there! We just got back from our vacation yesterday. Technically we've been gone from Disney since last Thursday , but we stayed in Florida with family until Monday night. It's probably going to take me awhile to get this whole thing posted as I need to go through over 1300 pics, but I wanted to get this party started. So here goes.

Who: Me (Em), My DH (Luke) and our two DSs (7&3)
Where: Coronado Springs, Port Orleans Riverside Royal Guest Room
When: May 17-23
PTR here http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/first-time-for-everything-ptr.860419/

A few things changed from that schedule including the cancellation of the Aloha show and switching around park days.


Day One

So this year we opted for something a little different and decided to take the Amtrak auto-train from Lorton, VA to Sanford, FL. On paper it looks great- they load up your vehicle and you spend the night on the train. Then voila you wake up the next day in Florida with your car. But in reality sleep is not something that happened for us because we opted for normal seats instead of purchasing a private room. If we ever do it again that will be a necessity.
We woke up early on Friday morning and were out of the house by 9am on our way to Lorton. We figured we'd give ourselves plenty of wiggle room for the 2pm cutoff time. We arrived around noon and were finally allowed to board at 2:30. I'll insert some pics of the station and playground when I unpack my other camera. Amtrak provides dinner and I have to say that it was a very pleasant experience. The food was good and they kept our wine glasses full throughout the meal.

Packed up and ready to go:

Train station:

On the train:

Next up was sleepy time and I will spare you the details of the nightmare that ensued. The children were able to sleep well because they are small and fit perfectly into the seats, but Mom and Dad were not so lucky and unfortunately I barely slept. Oh well. At least we got into the station an hour early and by 9:15 am we were on our way to DISNEY!!!

 

[Sharkreef11]

I lied. Next up is Behind the Seeds

We headed to The Land and were directed to a waiting spot for our tour guide. There were only 9 of us. Our tour guide Nick showed up promptly at 10:30 and led us through the Soarin chaos and through a Cast Members only door. First up was pest control where we got to see the pests they were working on and Nick gave my son a vial of ladybugs that he would later release in the greenhouse.

The tour was very informative and enjoyable. Plus we got to taste fresh cucumbers and learned how to make our own hydroponic tanks at home. If you're into gardening or biology then this tour is a must!

That is so cool! I don't think I ever heard of that tour before. Is that something you have to sign up for?

 

[Ember]

That is so cool! I don't think I ever heard of that tour before. Is that something you have to sign up for?

You can call and make reservations or you can sign up at the desk next to the Soarin' entrance. They have several tours throughout the day and it's cheap! It was about $32 for both of us. It's only about an hour long, but so worth it.

 

[bluejasmine]

Loving the TR! We have the behind the seeds tour booked as a surprise for DH! We also have CR& BOG booked as well!

 

[foreverbelle]

Nice report, you have some amazing shots!!!

Are you from the NoVa area? I only ask because so are we, and we always think about doing the train thank you for your thoughts that is one of the issues we have, the whole would we sleep and private room debate so I am glad you shared your thoughts with us.

I have never had an interest in eating at the AKL restaurants but you made me really want to..

Congrats on getting your son on Dinosaur, its one we have yet to try with our own thinking it would scare the daylights out of him.

 

[Ember]

Are you from the NoVa area? I only ask because so are we, and we always think about doing the train thank you for your thoughts that is one of the issues we have, the whole would we sleep and private room debate so I am glad you shared your thoughts with us.

We're from South Jersey. It took us about 3 hours to get to the station, but it wasn't a bad drive. The whole process was really easy and it was really nice for the most part. If we weren't sharing a small space with the Snorasaur and if we had brought extra pillows and blankets than coach seats may have worked out better for us, but we will definitely be buying rooms next time. If you book early enough they are not that expensive.

I have never had an interest in eating at the AKL restaurants but you made me really want to..

If you like Indian food then you will love Sanaa. It's just beautiful and the food was so yummy. Added benefit was that Mom and Dad got to eat in a nice a restaurant and there was no meltdowns from the kiddos because they were totally occupied with the animals

Congrats on getting your son on Dinosaur, its one we have yet to try with our own thinking it would scare the daylights out of him.

Thanks! I was shocked that he wasn't scared because HM scared him! And then later in the week he demanded that he go on ToT with the rest of us and I finally caved and let him go. He loved that too!! I think he's a little thrill junkie!

 

[Sharkreef11]

You can call and make reservations or you can sign up at the desk next to the Soarin' entrance. They have several tours throughout the day and it's cheap! It was about $32 for both of us. It's only about an hour long, but so worth it.

Very cool and that is not too bad at all for price. I am definitely going to check into this come December.

 

[Ember]

Day 5 Continued:
Not a ton of pics from DHS. By this time we were all feeling a bit run down. That and it was a bad weather day with the middle of the day ruined by a really nasty rainstorm. Once inside the park we immediately headed for ToT to get FPs

Then we headed to Star Tours and walked right on. Score! Loving this week for the low crowds!

It was so nice that we rode it twice

After the second ride the skies opened up and it POURED! We lived in FL for 10 years and it was bad even for us, so we took shelter and watched Muppets 3D. I still love it, but my kids were iffy about it.

When the rain lightened up a bit we headed back and rode Star Tours again and snapped some SW pics:

Next up was Build-a-Droid which my oldest son loved. No line for this, but there was a huge line for the light saber so we didn't get to do that.

SO


Then it was time for ToT. We assumed our 3 year old would not want to ride, but he begged and pleaded and downright insisted upon it. All through the FP line I tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't budge on his position. We loaded up and got ready for the drop. I braced myself for the screaming and crying I was so sure I would hear and instead I heard giggling and "woo-hoos" coming from the seat behind me. When we came to a stop I heard my husband ask him "Was that fun?" and he screamed "Yes!!" to which everyone in the car busted out laughing. I've got myself a little daredevil on my hands.


The skies opened up once again, this time worse than before so we decided to grab FPs for RnR and to try to get into Sci-fi early. We ended up waiting about 15 minutes before being shown to our table.

Sci-fi was really cool. The food was good. My DH got the salmon blt and I got the chicken blt which we both thought was tastier. We both ordered Long Island Ice teas and I swear they were stronger than the Lapu Lapus we had earlier in the week! I left there feeling really tipsy lol. It was a good thing though because it was nearly 5pm and we still had not heard from PORS! And to top it off it started raining, again. We ducked under an alcove and called PORS and it took about 20 minutes before they finally got us a room. No clue who dropped the ball there, but I tried not to get upset about it.

We opted for something a little calmer and decided to check out the Disney Jr show. So cute! We all really enjoyed it.

Time to head to RnR for our FPs! It was my oldest son's first upside down roller coaster and we made sure he didn't know it was upside down. I waited and waited while my DH took him on and when they finally came out- he loved it! And then I was able to go on it with him a second time. So happy he enjoyed it because we are a bunch of roller coaster maniacs and this was his first "big boy" rollercoaster. Meanwhile his younger brother was enjoying a lollipop:

And then passed out lol

By this time it was about 630 and the skies were still looking unfriendly so we decided to call it a day and go check out our new resort.

Next up: Port Orleans Riverside Royal Guest Room

 

[Ember]

Day 5 : Port Orleans Riverside

While we enjoyed our room at CSR I have to say that there wasn't a real "wow" factor when we opened the door. It was more of a subdued "nice", but when we opened the door to our Royal Guest Room, it was "WOW!". So magical, so Disney, and so fantastic! We all raced around the room trying to place objects with their stories:

Then it was time for the big surprise for the boys. Lights off and voila:

FIREWORKS!!!!

The room was everything we could have asked for and more. After about 10 fireworks viewings we left to check out the rest of the resort.

 

[Ember]

Peaceful,quiet, romantic, and beautiful. Walking around that first night, we fell head over heels in love with the place. My husband is originally from Louisiana and it really made him feel at home. We strolled along the beautiful grounds just taking in the scenery and feeling truly relaxed. We picked up some sandwiches to go at the food court and mosied on back to the room, with the kids trying to catch lizards and frogs along the way. The sandwiches were really good, very big and I ended up saving half for the next day. Then we called it a night and prepared for our last day in Disney

 

[LizC]

Great report so far. Your kids are real dare devils! I am a big weenie when it comes to rides, I'm afraid my kids (they will be 2 in July) will force me on to roller coasters.

Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[englanddg]

Those pictures are awesome. I can't wait to walk POR and POFQ at night!

 

[prfctlyximprct]

Love your trip report Thanks for sharing

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

Great report so far......the Micket meet was epic. One of those moments it sounds like.

 

[Ember]

Great report so far......the Micket meet was epic. One of those moments it sounds like.

It really was. He's been talking about meeting Mickey every single day since we told him we were going to Disney. The look on his face when it finally happened was just too precious. It made every single dollar and every bit of planning completely worth it. Those moments are what make Disney so special.

 

[Ember]

Day Six: Last full day at Disney, Magic Kingdom
Today was our last full day at Disney and we all started getting the leaving Disney blues. We woke up very early to try to make it to rope drop at Magic Kingdom, but our bus stop at PORS was the last one and the buses were full. By the time we finally got a bus and arrived to MK, the rope drop show had just ended. Oh well just one more thing to add to our to do list next time. It definitely wasn't the only thing we didn't get to do this time. I also didn't pick a pearl, or ride Dumbo, or take the kids to Tom Sawyer's Island. But that just means we have to keep coming back until we finish our list and we're already planning a January or May trip in '14.

First up Astro Orbiters. My DH has been wanting to go on these his whole life and no one in his family ever wanted to go on them and they were down on our last trip, so this was top priority this morning.

My hubby is so happy!! Phase one of becoming a Disneyholic complete!

Next up was Buzz, only a 5 minute wait. The littlest son beat everyone with a score of 450,000! I know the cheats so I try to aim everywhere but there and ended up with a score so pathetic I won’t even reveal it lol. The line was still short when we got off so, of course, we went on it again. This time the oldest DS was the winner and I got a score of a more respectable 150k (I may or may not have allowed myself to target one cheat spot)

I totally used my flash for this pic, but only because we were stuck right before getting off

On to the people mover. It was another walk-on. Sweet. This is one our must-dos on every trip. The SM part is just so cool, especially for the little guy who’s still not tall enough to ride it.

The line for Buzz was still short when we got off, so littlest guy insisted upon a third ride. Good grief kid you’re killing me. I didn't even try this time, just sat back and took in the scenery. Then we grabbed FPs for Space and headed into new Fantasyland. We headed to the Ariel ride and it said 35 minutes. We toyed around with the idea of waiting to get FPs and then said forget it and got in line. The posted wait time was way off and we got on in about 10 minutes. This was another one in which I wished the line was longer so we could really check out the queue instead of rushing through it. I thought the ride was really cute although I felt they could have added a few more scenes to flesh out the story better.

 

[Ember]

Before I forget let me add a quick thank you to a certain website that provides crowd calendars for each park. We weren't going to follow it, but then we changed our minds and decided to go for it and it was right on the money

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Great trip report!!! I was there at the same time as you! But we happened to be in different places on different days, except that Monday at EPCOT, we were there at night but in different areas of the park! How funny is that!

Looks like you all had a great trip!!!!!!!! And way to go for your oldest being a thrill maniac!!! I love him already! LOL. I am a huge thrill fan!!!

And that Royal Room is GORGEOUS! The Port Orleans Resorts are up there on my favorites list so glad you got to spend some time in Riverside!

 

[Ember]

Great trip report!!! I was there at the same time as you! But we happened to be in different places on different days, except that Monday at EPCOT, we were there at night but in different areas of the park! How funny is that!

Looks like you all had a great trip!!!!!!!! And way to go for your oldest being a thrill maniac!!! I love him already! LOL. I am a huge thrill fan!!!

And that Royal Room is GORGEOUS! The Port Orleans Resorts are up there on my favorites list so glad you got to spend some time in Riverside!

Hope you guys had a great trip too! How were the other parks? We followed the crowd calendar and I'm curious to know if the other parks were crowded on the days we weren't there. I had a theory that we had trouble with buses because the parks we picked had low attendance, but I could be off base with that.
It's funny because we were in FL the 18th-28th, but left Disney on the 23rd. I wish we could have been there the whole time!

 

[Ember]

Then it was back to Space Mountain to use our FPs. I forgot how bumpy that ride is, but still fun. Very glad it didn’t break down this time after our two hour fiasco last year.

We took a break, had some popcorn and cinnamon almonds, and then strolled around taking in all the scenery. It was a hot one today.

We made our way into Frontierland and grabbed FPs for BTMR and then headed to Tortuga Tavern to get some lunch. Man I love that place. We got two kids meals and an order of nachos which we turned into two tacos salads via the toppings bar. Can’t beat feeding four people for under $20 at Disney. Littlest man spotted PotC and we were forced to ride it two times in a row. I encountered my first flash crazy people the second time around I held myself back from throwing the lady behind me off the boat. She took a picture with her obnoxious flash of EVERYTHING. And kept screaming Johnny every time she saw Captain Jack. To make matters worse the ride broke down and we were stuck with her flash and obnoxious behavior while we waited for it to start again. Luckily she was really the only obnoxious guest we had to deal with the entire trip so I bit my tongue.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Adorable little boys!!!! Kudos to you for making your hubby a Disney fan!!! (Also from So Jersey, still working on my husband!!) Unfortunately, we all run into obnoxious guests, but you handled it well