POR Sept. 16 - Sept 24

This is my first trip report so I hope that I do not disappoint anyone.

Here are the participants: DH (35), myself (44), my mother (66), my sister (29) and my nephew (9).

Day 1 - Sept. 16 - We arrived at POR last Saturday. We are in the Mansions. One room was ready at 10:30 am when we checked in but the other was not. We dropped our luggage and headed over to Goodings (grocery store). We picked up a few snacks and a couple of cases of water. From there we headed to DTD for some shopping. It was really hot that day but we managed to do a significant amount of shopping. When we returned to the resort, there were flowers waiting for me.....the 17th was my 6th wedding anniversary. I also got a Mickey icon ring while we were at DTD!! I sent my nephew a bag of snacks through DisneyFlorist.com. He totally dug that!

We had tickets to the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show on the 16th. It was awesome! I have seen it before and knew that my nephew would love it. He did, especially the fire dance! The Poly is under renovation right now so it was slow getting from the lobby to the Luau Cove.

Let me say that I am very disappointed in POR. This is our first and last stay here. The bathrooms are dingy looking. The floors are scuffed like crazy. There is a lot of dust in each and every corner of the room. They are painting the resort and there is construction going on every single day. You hear hammers early each morning...there is sawing going on as well. If you're a napper, forget it....it will NOT happen here. Our fridge was broken. They came to fix it but could not so they ended up bringing a second. The fridge in my mom's room still doesn't work. We're early risers and have not had hot water in the morning shower yet...............

Day 2 - We began our anniversary at Epcot. We rode Spaceship Earth first thing (have to start slow with my mom).....after we found ourselves on the Leave a Legacy wall. We had done that the last time they came down with us. We had a blast of a time at Turtle Talk with Crush. We went into Imageworks and sent email photo's of ourselves to our friends! What a hoot that was! Also did Journey Into Imagination with Figment for the first time. Loved that too.

We ate at Coral Reef .... food was okay. I was sort of disappointed. Our server said "no subsitutions" however the guy next to me was able to make a substitution which aggravated me. We had received a gift certificate for our anniversary from friends. It was a $50 visa card. We told the waiter to take the $50 off the bill first and take the rest out of the cash. Well, he comes back and tells us that he's sorry, but the card was declined three times! We come to find out by calling Visa that all three times he tried to put through the entire balance! Duh.......

The rest of the family ate at Alfredo's. The consensus was that they like "Olive Garden" better. Hmmmm, that was disappointing. Mom ended up with a stomache ache so bad from her meal that we were unable to stay for Illuminations which was a bummer.

When we arrived back at POR, there was an anniversary delivery for my husband, courtesy of yours truly. I had sent him a large bag of snacks from DisneyFlorist.com. We also received a basket of fruit from friends which was also waiting for us when we got back.

We headed to the arcade ... nephew was really antsy to get there.

Day 3 - Magic Kingdom. We started the day with breakfast at the Crystal Palace. The food was very tasty and everyone enjoyed it. We then took the Family Magic Tour. Our guide was Stella. I suggest this tour to anyone with children. At the end of the our tour we were joined by Wendy and Peter Pan and we all went over to Mickey's Philharmagic. It was great. My nephew sat next to Peter Pan during the show. He had a great time. I think we spent about 1/2 hour or so with Peter and Wendy! We rode PoTC several times after the tour. It was awesome but I think that Barbossa (spelling) was lame. The rest of the additions were cool. We also rode everything in Fantasyland that day. And the coolest thing was that we walked on to everything!! NO WAIT AT ALL!!!!! My nephew insisted on riding the Haunted Mansion 3 times that day too. We were "saving" all of the "mountains" for our second visit to MK.

We came back to the hotel for a swim and then headed back to MK in the evening. We decided on Casey's for dinner after reading about how good the hot dogs are there. We were not disappointed!

I have taken nearly 1,000 pictures so far and hope to post some when I return home....that is if I can figure out how to do so!

Day 4 - We headed for MGM today. We rode Star Tours and the Great Movie Ride. We split up for lunch and then headed to Beauty and the Beast. Belle is my favorite so I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I was disappointed to see that the fountain in front of the Muppet Movie is still covered. We went and saw the show, but couldn't get my nephew to put on the 3D glasses. He is ADHD and the doctor told us that 3D's provide sensory overload to kids with ADHD so we shouldn't be surprised if he didn't like these attractions. My DH and sister wanted to ride RnRC but never got a chance to ... yet.

We left the park and went to an outlet mall near by. My nephew wanted those crazy shoes with wheels so we took him to get them....let's just hope we don't have to visit a hospital while we're here. :lol:

Back to MGM we went for dinner at the Sci-Fi. The atmosphere was great, the food was okay. My DH and sister had the steak and they said it was delicious. My nephew didn't want to leave the place....he thought that the cars were cool!

Day 5 - Animal Kingdom was on our agenda for today. My sister and nephew headed right for EE. My mom, DH and I went to see It's Tough to be a Bug. It's one of my favorites. :sohappy: My husband wanted to ride EE so after the show we headed over to EE. I took a zillion pictures. DH said it was amazing! Let me say that he should not be riding coasters at all since he is a candidate for back surgery! Said he didn't care, he was riding it!! From there we headed to Kilimanjaro Safari.....another "back friendly" experience. It was early in the morning and we were able to see a lot of animals. We took some amazing pictures! I can't wait to get to post them! We did some shopping and then headed back to the hotel. Nephew wanted to go to the arcade again and then we headed back to the mall.

Dinner was at Fulton's at DTD. Yummy!!!!!!!!!!! It's our favorite place to eat. Mom treated for our anniversary so that made it even better. We shopped some more (can you tell we're shoppers?) then headed back to the resort .

Day 6 - Today - Headed back to MK. Rode Space Mountain first thing. We also went back to the Haunted Mansion and rode the rest of the "mountains". Took the train to Toon Town ... wall to wall people!!! Got our picture taken with the Big Cheese himself.:sohappy: Rode Dumbo again......me for the first time ever! Saw the CBJ. Nephew rode the Indy Speedway. We had lunch at Pecos Bill's ... I had the chicken wrap....it was delicious!!! It got really hot today so we headed back to the resort ....

So far, we have not seen any fireworks. We're going to MHSSHP tomorrow night and we'll definitely see them then!

I hope that I am not boring anyone so far. The family is waiting to leave for Mickey's Backyard BBQ so I will end for now.

:wave:

 

[LeeSeeBabe]

Love the report so far! Can't wait to hear about MNSSHP (as I am deciding whether to attend or not). And I cannot wait to see pictures! MAke sure to keep posting!!! :wave:

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

We've done POFQ twice and loved it - I guess that you're just unfortunate with the problems that you encountered. Here's hoping that the rest of the trip makes up for it.

 

[GoofyMom2]

Love reading your report....looking forward to more!

I am sorry to hear you had bad experiences with POR. We were there from the 15-19th in the Mansion section also and we encountered no problems. Room was very clean, never heard construction etc. The only problem I encountered was the long walk to the food court to get a drink at the end of the day. Sorry you had such bad luck :veryconfu

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

We returned home last night. I'm picking up where I left off in my report....


Day 6 - Continued

We headed out to Fort Wilderness Campground making our way to Mickey's Back Yard BBQ. I realized that I left the tickets at the resort so we had to turn around. In doing so, we learned something very interesting! Instead of turning around and backtracking, DH decided to pass the Campground. Wouldn't you know it, we were back at Riverside within 2 minutes! We thought that it was very interesting that Disney doesn't post signs with these "short cuts". We figured it was because if you knew them and used them, you would be able to avoid going through the main gates!

We arrived at the parking lot and headed for the bus to take us back to Pioneer Hall. Once we got back to the Pioneer Hall building it was difficult to figure out where to check in, etc. I went to a check in window for the HDD and they directed me to the proper place. We checked in and had a family picture taken then headed back to the picnic area.

We were greated by Chip and Dale, Minnie and Goofy when we entered the picnic pavilion. There was a country band (can't recall their names) and other entertainment as well.

They served buffet style and there was practically a stampede to get to the food. They had 8 lines going so once you got up there it wasn't too bad. The food was good, all but the corn on the cob which was so mushy you felt like you were eating mashed potatoes. They had hot dogs, burgers, ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, green salad, pork and beans (which were very spicy), corn bread and watermelon. They also had a freezer filled with Mickey bar's and othe frozen treats. It was quite hot that evening and we were seated outdoors (obviously, since it was a BBQ).

We stayed for a while after we ate since my nephew was having such a good time, but it started to get really muggy around 8:30 so we decided to head back to the resort.

Day 7 - Backstage Magic Tour for DH, myself and my mother. You may not want to read Day 7 if you plan on taking the tour!!!!!

We had breakfast at the resort and headed to Epcot around 8:15. We had our bags inspected and went to the waiting area for the tours. DH and I were hoping that Nancy would be our guide this time since we had her last year and she was very good. We met a lot of people from Ohio (it's a small world after all) that were going on the tour and also some new friends from Florida. When we saw our guide coming over to us we realized that it was not going to be Nancy and were a little disappointed. Our guide was Carmen and she turned out to be awesome! We started at Epcot by going backstage and visiting the American Adventure. It was cool to see how it all works. It's amazing. From there we went to the Casting Center which was really cool too. We went through the locker area, laundry and costumes and then headed out of the building. Carmen told us to glace to our right as we exited ... there was a room to the right where the princesses get ready. We saw Ariel putting on her wig, Cinderella putting on her make up (she had her hair in a hair net) and one other princess putting on her make up as well. The third princess didn't have a wig nearby so I have no clue who it was! From here we hopped on the bus (our driver was Lois by the way) and headed over to MGM. We went to Creative Costuming next. They were working on the new gown for Cinderella while we were there along with other costumes for the new special events this year. It was funny to waive to all of the people on the Backlout tour ride as they passed the windows of creative costuming. They were probably all wondering how we got in there!!! From costuming we went over to Mama Melrose for lunch. The food was fabulous. We started with appetizer flat bread pizzas. We had a green salad, 2 types of pastas and a plate of 4 different deserts! Yummy!!! I had only eaten there once before and that was last year on the same tour. I am hoping to try there some time on our next trip to see what the rest of the menu is like.

From MGM we made our way over to the Disney Florist and to the building where they work on the various ride vehicles. Sorry, but I can't recall the name of that building.

When we got to the florist all of us celebrating a birthday or anniversary were given a rose. What a nice touch. We toured the florist and were able to purchase vases that you could only get there. There were two to select from and I chose one. We were able to see the designers working on a couple of weddings that were taking place th at week. It was beautiful to see. From there we went to the area where they make all of the baskets that guests order. I happen to have ordered 2 myself before we arrived - one for my husband since it was our anniversary and one for my nephew. I got to see exactly how they did that which I thought was cool.

From the florist we were off to the mechanical side of things. We visited an area that was working on the repair of an elephant's trunk from the jungle cruise. They guy there had been with Disney for 35 years and explained how animatronics has changed over the years. We made our way from there to the area where they build the cars for the various rides. They also do the repairs there was well. We were able to see the new clam shaped cars for the new Nemo attraction being worked on.

We left MGM and headed for the MK. Carmen gave us the history of Walt and pointed out the illusions on Main Street. She told us the history of all of the windows above the shops on Main Street and then set us up in an area so that we could watch the 3 p.m. parade. It was roped off and we had our own little area:sohappy: .

I took about 100 pictures or so of the new parade. Our viewing area was the best! It's close to the same as the last parade only without the bubbles on the floats if you ask me, but I am sure there are new things as well.

We continued down Main Street after the parade and Carmen then took us to the tunnel system. There are over a mile of tunnels at the MK and we were able to see one very small area. We learned about the garbage system at the MK and also of the fact that there really are people that have to sort the stuff for recycled items. Knowing this made me very conscious about what can I put my garbage in!!! There is actually a department in the tunnel called "pin replenishment". When cast members start their shift they get a dozen or so pins from this area for trading. Carmen said that they can go back and exchange them at any time.

I'm going to report on days 8 and 9 later today. I'm downloading the pictures that we took, over 2,000 of them! I've got to figure out how to post some of them as well.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I'm going back to Day 6 here.....

Day 6 continued -----

We went to MNSSHP the evening of Day 6. My husband finally decided to get a scooter after all the walking we did on the Backstage Magic Tour. He has a horrible back and is currently under treatment. He should have done the scooter thing every day but he did not.

We arrived at the MK at about 6:15 and they were still decorating for the party at 7. My nephew was a pirate (big surprise) but the rest of us didn't dress in costume. After taking a zillion pictures of the Halloween decorations we headed over to Cosmic Ray's for a burger. Stitch was dressed as Elvis and there was a dance party going on when we arrived. My nephew enjoyed that a lot! From there he rode the Indy cars and then we started to Trick-or-Treat. We stopped at all of the candy areas along the way to Fantasyland and then we were able to walk on to Pooh. We also rode Peter Pan (again). We then headed for a spot to watch the parade in Frontierland. Since my husband had the scooter we were able to get a good seat. I had never even thought about how we'd manage the scooter but a CM led us to a roped off area. I never noticed that they had those before. We took a lot of pictures of the parade but they had turned a giant spot light on right in front of us so the pictures are not all that great .... I'm disappointed about that. The parade was my favorite of all of them that I have seen so far. The headless horsemen was so cool. The characters in costume were very cute too.

After the parade we rode PotC for the 3rd time and then headed for a spot to watch the fireworks. We ended up in front of the Crystal Palace for the fireworks. I was able to take excellent pictures of the show. We were going to stay for the 2nd parade but ended up getting our picture taken in front of the giant Mickey ghost at the front of the park and then heading out.

I HIGHLY recommend MNSSHP to anyone even thinking of going. It was great. We plan to try and go every year. It was by far our favorite fireworks display. It was amazing. Truly a "do not miss" event.

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Day 8 - This was our last full day. My nephew and my sister spent a good portion of the day at Disney Quest and the resort pool. My sister said it was a good thing that they saved Disney Quest for the end of the trip. She didn't think that she would ever get him out of there!!! They said that the pools at POR were outstanding and they had a great time there. It wasn't a far walk from their room (9505).

I met up with a friend who is visiting from Greece (haven't seen her in many years) early in the day. We all then headed back to Epcot for Illuminations. It was great, but after seeing the MNSSHP fireworks, I was a little disappointed. It was the first time I've seen Illuminations, which is hard to believe considering the amount of visits I have made to the World.

I had the opportunity to meet my mousekeeper for the week. She was so nice! I left mousekeeping envelopes all week ($5 - $7 a day) and she was very appreciative. I did come home with 20 bottles of shampoo, 12 bath bars and about 10 facial bars of soap. . No towel animals all week but she did make shells out of the towels one day and she put them around the flowers that my husband sent me for our anniversary.

Day 9 - Day of Departure - We headed back to Epcot so that we could visit Imagination once more. We sent email photos back home to friends, made photo postcards in the booths and a page of stickers. Don't do the stickers!! They are so small that you can't see them. Worse $5 we spent ever!!! We also had our photo taken with one of the backgrounds that they have and guess what? They asked us to be the Imagination VIP's of they day. The put our picture on the cashiers desk for the day in a special frame and gave us a free 8 x 10 to take home. That was pretty cool!

We made our way back to the resort for our late check out (we were able to check out at 1) and to gather our luggage. We came home with SO MUCH STUFF! We found the outlet malls and had a grand time but getting the stuff home was a challenge.

My husband decided to take I-4 to the airport instead of our usual way (417). We were on 538 and witnessed the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life. There was a young man on a motorcycle who was passing in the right lane. Something did not look righ to me and he started to swerve. He ended up hitting the back of a van. His body flew over his bike and he continued to roll down the highway. His bike was in a zillion pieces all over the place. My DH has excellent reaction time and was able to stop and not hit him or anyone else. My DH tossed his cell to me and I called 911 while he went out and approached the driver of the motorcycle. DH was a volunteer firefighter years ago and spent time in the military. He had no medical training but a lot of common sense. He was able to keep the man down (believe it or not he tried to move). DH said his leg was broken in many places but didn't elaborate because I was hysterical at that time. A doctor, a medic and a nurse stopped at the scene and took over from there. I still cannot stop thinking about what I saw. It was unreal. My 9 year old nephew was scared to death and I have to admit, so was I. I have been checking the Orlando newspaper on line to see if there is a mention of the accident. We had a flight to catch and since the doctor was there and took over and the ambulance was on it's way, we proceeded to the airport. My DH is upset that he had to leave but there were so many witnesses there that said that they would give a report, plus 911 has our information as well.

Sorry to end my trip report on such a sad note, but I will never forget this as long as I live.

If I ever figure out how to post pictures, I will do so! Also, just a note, if anyone uses PhotoPass here is a tip from me.....be sure to confirm with the photographer that your card was read accurately. All of our pictures from Epcot are missing.