Trip Report The Easiest Trip Ever

I’m willing to jinx it. I am a chronic planner. This up coming trip is the easiest one yet.

Players:
DH 42- the obsessive planner /op. This will be my 9th trip as an adult after 3 as a kid.
DW 43- this will be her 9th trip as an adult (never went as a kid. She will turn 44 during this trip.
DS 18- 9th trip. Just graduated high school.
DD 15- 9th trip. Most excited of the kids.
DD 10- 8th trip. Borderline not in love with Disney.

Broad strokes:
- staying at POR for the second time.
- our first POR trip in 2016 was when we found out, the hard way, that our son had epilepsy. The cast members were phenomenal.
- driving in from Atl area.
- 9 days / 8nights.
- we will be attending MNSSHP. This is our 3rd, but first since 2013.
- we’ve used park hopper before, but don’t love it. This will be one park per day.

I’ll post the specific plans later in this thread. Table service wise, we lucked into getting everything we wanted from the start- Beaches &Cream, Ohana dinner, via Napoli, homecoming brunch. We late added Boatwrights. Don’t at me, we kinda like it.

And to end this, I’ll ask a question for the group. My wife’s birthday is during the trip. Specifically on our Epcot day. At present, we are doing F&W for lunch and our all time favorite of via Napoli for dinner. I was looking at getting a cake delivered. If I’m reading this right, they can only do the delivery at certain restaurants? Assuming I’m reading this right, I’m looking to luck into a le cellier reservation. My question is this- has anyone used this service before? If so, am I right that it’s reserved for certain restaurants. And lastly, I also looked it up for amorettes. I may be reading this too literally. They have a message that it can’t be delivered to all Disney resorts. Does that mean- they can do for some, not all? Or does it mean- no resorts, period?

 

[macefamily]

I'll be following. Looking forward to it.

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Really looking forward to hearing about your adventures

 

[Bullseye1967]

Following along!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

 

[Darstarr]

I will be reading…
As for cakes, I think @HouCuseChickie might be able to help?

 

[jharvey]

Well, I thought I was going to have a work around. She’s loved Le Cellier since the one time we ate there 10 years ago. It’s listed as a restaurant that allows for the cake delivery… Then i sit here in quiet disgust as she talks herself out of the reservation and cancels. Her reasoning? The kids wouldn’t eat anything. I consider myself a foodie by Deep South definitions. God has cursed me with three kids who would eat chicken nuggets and corn dogs 3 meals a day. We are instead keeping our via Napoli reservation (it is a favorite of ours). But deep down I want to order her a tiramisu with a little hair in it… if you get that reference, you are cool enough for me.

 

[jharvey]

8 days till we head out. We are at the phase of the countdown that we scream into the void that time is going slower.

Question for the group… On the party day, we have a Beaches and Cream reservation for lunch at 11am. This will be our first time eating here. I’ll start by saying I’ll never willingly drive while on property- GP. Best way to get there from POR? Boat to Disney Springs, bus to Beach Club? Don’t laugh if that’s ridiculous. We’ve only stayed at POR once before and that was 6 years ago.

 

[Zipadeelady]

The boat to DS actually sounds like the most relaxing and enjoyable route to take. The only other option I would do is Bus to HS then Boat to Beach Club.

I thought I was cool but just found out I'm not. I have no idea what hair in Tiramisu is. I even tried to google it and nothing. When my kids were little they thought it was funny to say that some one else at the table was eating......What ever food they choose and then say "with hair in it" and they thought it was so funny. But we are not cool.

 

[Tuvalu]

Since the boat service from POR to DS does not open until 10am, you’ll be pressed for time to make your 11am ADR at Beaches and Cream. Assuming you make the first launch, it is a 15-20 minute ride to DS and you will dock at the Marketplace - meaning a considerable walk to the bus depot (located in Town Center). You may have to then wait up to 20 minutes for a YC/BC bus.

Buses to DS from POR start operating in the 9am hour, so taking the bus (instead of boat) would make for an easy transfer to a YC/BC bus.

@Zipadeelady suggestion of taking a bus to the Studios and transfer to boat is also a good option. If you’re at the POR bus stop by 9:30, you’ll have plenty of time to do this. YC/BC is the second stop on the boat ride (after Swan/Dolphin). Once you’ve disembarked, walk straight as if headed to YC lobby - only make a right turn onto the covered outdoor walkway before you get there. This shaded walkway will lead you right to Beaches and Cream.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I am following along. I am looking forward to your report.

 

[jharvey]

The boat to DS actually sounds like the most relaxing and enjoyable route to take. The only other option I would do is Bus to HS then Boat to Beach Club.

I thought I was cool but just found out I'm not. I have no idea what hair in Tiramisu is. I even tried to google it and nothing. When my kids were little they thought it was funny to say that some one else at the table was eating......What ever food they choose and then say "with hair in it" and they thought it was so funny. But we are not cool.

Episode of the office- the surplus- Michael was eating a tiramisu someone threw away “because of a little hair in it”. From 2010 to early Covid I did nothing but watch office reruns

 

[jharvey]

Thank you all for the outstanding suggestions. I was certain I was right. Now I’m certain I’m happy that I asked. Thanks

 

[jharvey]

Minor update:

We are 4 days out. We just dropped Boatwrights from the back end of the trip and added City Works for lunch on our travel day in. We’ve never eaten there, but YouTube conspired against us.

 

[jharvey]

We are at the day-by-day portion of our show-

Day 1: Travel Day
- leave home by 4am. Travel time will be 5.5-6 hours. We make minimal stops.

Goal is to arrive at POR by 11:30am. Assuming the room is not ready, we plan to drop the bags at bell services then hop a boat to Disney Springs.

Priorities & Reservations:
- Gideons. We’ve never tried this before. Our goal is to by a metric ton of diabetes inducing cookies to act as breakfast for most of the trip.
- 1pm reservation for City Works. We’ve never eaten there before. Videos have me looking at their filet slider and duck nachos. We are not drinkers, but I’m thinking about adulting with a flight.
- Back to the hotel by 5pm. Dinner at Riverside Mill food court- or Sassagoula. We really like Riverside Mill, but I like the idea of visiting POFQ, as we’ve never done it before.

Goal is to be done, and circling our room by 8pm. We are early risers at Disney. I’ll be up by 4am to ensure we are at the bus stop at least 1 hour and 45 minutes before Magic Kingdom opens.

Tl;dr- any recommendations for gideons (getting in) and City Works (everything).

 

[riverside]

In July we got to DS early(10ish) one morning. The line for Gideon’s looked long but I got in it & waited about 1/2 hour. Glad I tried it but everything is very rich there!!

City Works had great food & beer!! Very reasonable too!!

Eat at FQ’s food court. As much as I love POR, The Riverside Mill isn’t what it used to be. FQ’s, although smaller, has better options, IMO.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Minor update:

We are 4 days out. We just dropped Boatwrights from the back end of the trip and added City Works for lunch on our travel day in. We’ve never eaten there, but YouTube conspired against us.

- 1pm reservation for City Works. We’ve never eaten there before. Videos have me looking at their filet slider and duck nachos. We are not drinkers, but I’m thinking about adulting with a flight.

My husband was just at City Works 2 weeks ago while visiting our daughter. It was a first time for both of them and he had the Duck Nachos and said they were excellent and has declared we will be going back because there was a lot of things he wanted to try.

 

[rshell68]

We also tried City Works recently. It was AWESOME! Food was really good! I'm not a huge beer person but def found drinks a plenty!

 

[BigDis]

Following along. Can't wait to read all about your trip.

 

[Darstarr]

Another person who really likes Citiworks. I love the local beer flight and I have never had anything bad to eat there.