Trip Report The tale of two Disney-obsessed Atlantic Canadians, March 27-April 3, 2014

Alrighty, well, let me start off by saying that this isn't officially a trip report yet because we don't leave for another six days, but I have a few spare minutes so figured I'd lay the groundwork here.

This report is for me (Tom, 25) and my mom (Peggy, 40+ ...). Here we are last February in the French pavilion:

It's my fourth trip to WDW and her fifth. We're absolutely WDW obsessed. We love everything about it -- thinking about booking, actually booking, make our ADRs, planning what to pack, booking our Fastpasses (we LOVE the new Fastpass+ system so far -- we'll wait and see how well it works at the parks), etc. We've stayed at POR, CB, and CS, and POR is definitely our favourite. This trip, we'll be at POR again, and we've requested Magnolia Bend for the full seven nights. We really like Alligator Bayou, but we want to give "the mansions" a try. Fingers crossed!

We have been planning the trip since Christmas time, and were actually supposed to be there at the same time as my uncle, aunt, and two younger cousins. We were really looking forward to experiencing Disney with some first-timers, and especially with the kids, but unfortunately my youngest cousin broke her leg badly this week while sledding, so they've had to cancel for the time being.

Back to mom and me. Disney is our thing. We generally get along pretty well anyway, but Disney is a bit of a no-brainer for us. We both love how it's such an easy vacation -- no worries, just relaxed for a week but also filled with our favourite activities, great food, drinks, and lots of fireworks. We also both like to shop so DTD is a big favourite, after Epcot of course. I say pretty often that as long as I can afford it, I'll head to WDW at least once a year for the rest of my life. Friends (and even some family, including my two younger brothers) think we're insane for the way we love Disney so much. When we told people we were considering going again this year, we got a lot of responses like "you're going AGAIN?!?!?" and "just you and your mom -- won't you kill each other?!?" Well, nope, I guarantee we'll have fun and we'll want to go back again this time next year!

So, you may be able to tell from my spelling of "favourite" that we're Canadian. We're from Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island, on the Atlantic coast among the Maritime provinces (across the Northumberland Strait from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). Have you heard of PEI mussels? Well, they come from the bays around our island. Have you heard of Anne of Green Gables? Well, her story was based on the island and she was created by islander Lucy Maud Montgomery. The island is also famous for its beautiful white sand beaches, friendly and generous culture, and pristine world-class golf courses.

That said, we've had a particularly harsh winter. So far, we've had nearly three times the usual amount of snow, and it's been bitter cold since Christmas. It's a bit of a frozen wasteland at the moment, which is in stark contrast to how beautiful it is here in the summer. Proof:

Summer: gorgeous beaches all around the island (this is less than a 5 minute walk from my place)

And beautiful hiking trails in our national park

But then there's winter...still beautiful but completely frozen

So, you could say that we're really looking forward to some Florida sun.

Next Wednesday, March 26, we'll drive the 3 1/2 hours from my parents' place in Stratford, PEI across the Confederation Bridge to "the mainland" (aka New Brunswick), and straight on through to Halifax, Nova Scotia. We'll stay overnight at an airport hotel and hop on an early morning direct WestJet flight to Orlando on Thursday. Then, we'll take the DME to POR, and we absolutely can't wait!!! I bought a new Canon T3 DSLR for the trip, so I guarantee some decent photos of the sights, the food, and maybe even a few good ones of us having fun. This is my first trip report, so be gentle!

If anyone's interested in some live action, I'll definitely be pretty active on Twitter and Instagram during our trip:

@officialtom

@officialtom

Just three more workdays...

 

[RobnRachal]

We were in PEI this past summer. Hubby was Best Man at a friends wedding. Wish we could have stayed longer after the wedding to see more of the island. We'll definitely go back.
Hoping you arrive safely and get lots o' sunshine while you're there

 

[officialtom]

We were in PEI this past summer. Hubby was Best Man at a friends wedding. Wish we could have stayed longer after the wedding to see more of the island. We'll definitely go back.
Hoping you arrive safely and get lots o' sunshine while you're there

Thanks!! The forecast keeps getting worse so we're really hoping for a storm warning that will prompt Westjet to fly us out early. Hope you're able to get back to the island soon!

 

[officialtom]

Pre-trip update: beating the storm!

Well, the winter storm from hell has been upgraded yet again and is expected to be a catastrophic blizzard across the Maritimes tomorrow so we zipped over to Halifax this afternoon so we don't get stuck on the island. Our travel agent has been trying to rebook us for a day early to get to Orlando before the storm hits around 9am tomorrow, but WestJet has been completely stonewalling him. Mom decided to call WestJet from the car -- completely taking a chance -- and they switched us to 5am tomorrow! So as it stands right now, we'll beat the storm by a couple of hours AND gain a day at WDW! We'll stay at AoA for the first night and then transfer to POR for our "regular" reservation. We're looking forward to exploring AoA a bit for the first time!!

All for now.

 

[Tiggerish]

I can't see the pictures in your first post.

Good luck with your travels, I'll be following along here and on instagram.

 

[officialtom]

Made it to Toronto!! Clear skies here. Meanwhile, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are completely shut down. Glad we're away from that blizzardy mess.

 

[SarahBella82]

So glad it worked out for you to head out early!

 

[Allym146]

Glad you got out safely! A friend of mine in NS sent video from the weather channel up there, these two poor weather guys got blown off camera. It looked insane.

 

[officialtom]

Somehow it's already July and I haven't done my trip report. Pretty sad! Hope to have it done and posted over the next couple of weeks.

The long story short is that we had an absolutely INCREDIBLE trip and some really great luck with flights and both resorts. More to come!

 

[DisSplash]

Can't wait to read all about it!

 

[officialtom]

Alright, here we go, five months late but at least I'm finally getting around to it! Figured I'd better get it done before we start planning our trip for Feb/March 2015, which is really just around the corner.

You might have read the few live updates I gave during our attempt to get out of Atlantic Canada ahead of a catastrophic three-day blizzard that crippled the Maritime provinces. Here they are again just for good measure:

Day -1: March 25th: Pre-trip update: beating the storm!

Well, the winter storm from hell has been upgraded yet again and is expected to be a catastrophic blizzard across the Maritimes tomorrow so we zipped over to Halifax this afternoon so we don't get stuck on the island. Our travel agent has been trying to rebook us for a day early to get to Orlando before the storm hits around 9am tomorrow, but WestJet has been completely stonewalling him. Mom decided to call WestJet from the car -- completely taking a chance -- and they switched us to 5am tomorrow! So as it stands right now, we'll beat the storm by a couple of hours AND gain a day at WDW! We'll stay at AoA for the first night and then transfer to POR for our "regular" reservation. We're looking forward to exploring AoA a bit for the first time!!

Talk about an early alarm... ugh
http://instagram.com/p/l_BOq8DtQn/?modal=true

The forecast looked absolutely perfect for us (and for those of you in the US, don't worry, the temps are in Celcius!).


Day 1: March 26th: Made it to Toronto!! Clear skies here. Meanwhile, PEI, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick are completely shut down. Glad we're away from that blizzardy mess.

So we waited around in the Toronto Pearson airport for a little while, napping a bit on the lovely rock-hard chairs and trying to rest up a bit before the flight to our favourite place. The flight itself was uneventful. When we arrived in Orlando, we got ourselves to the right terminal on the fakorail but embarrassingly got mixed up and took the elevator to the wrong floor and wandered around a bit looking for the DME. We eventually asked a rental car lady, who sent us to the right floor. When we got to the DME line, we explained our situation and how we were a day early, but had reservations for one night at AOA. They were 100% accommodating and got us in line for the next bus, which, sadly, turned out to be a regular old yellow Mears bus. No tear-jerking movie for us this time. We grabbed the front seat right behind the driver, Anthony, because I wanted to get a decent shot of the WDW sign. Anthony had one some pretty potent and gross cologne of some kind, but I digress.


We arrived at WDW and I almost teared up when I saw the sign. I really can't explain the feeling that this place gives me. It's like coming home after being away for ten years even though we try to go every winter. There's just something so perfect, calm, and serene, and I honestly could not think of a better place for a vacation.
IMG_0236 by tommypei, on Flickr

Then, for the first time ever, we drove up to the AOA resort. I wasn't really sure what to expect since we always stay at moderates, but the place was absolutely beautiful, starting with the sign.
IMG_0237 by tommypei, on Flickr

Joseph from Milford, CT checked us in at the desk and offered us "a little extra Disney magic" by upgrading our regular room to a Cars family suite. He called someone named Jennifer to confirm he could do it, and she ended up offering us a Lion King family suite -- even better! I've loved the story of the Lion King since I was a little kid, so it was kind of exciting. This was just one more stroke of luck in what would prove to be a very VERY lucky trip all around, starting with the fact that we managed to get out of Halifax ahead of the snow.
IMG_0238 by tommypei, on Flickr

The room had this awesome double Murphy bed. It was surprisingly comfortable, and would be prefect for a family with young kids.
IMG_0240 by tommypei, on Flickr

The queen bed was also really comfy. I loved the LK theme, especially Zazu.
IMG_0241 by tommypei, on Flickr

The suite had two bathrooms, and the master bath was the nicest one I've seen at Disney so far. The large tiled shower was gorgeous and I loved the African sunset theme in the tiles.
IMG_0242 by tommypei, on Flickr

The shower curtain in the second bathroom was pretty great too


Mom was so excited to be there, but took a quick break to email dad and post a quick pic to Instagram. This couch was a pull-out, so the room could have comfortably slept 5 or 6.
IMG_0244 by tommypei, on Flickr

I really liked the lamp...and Zazu, again.
IMG_0245 by tommypei, on Flickr

And even more Zazu, and finally a pic of me. First selfie of the trip!


Just imagine being a kid and seeing all of this stuff. As always, Disney's attention to detail is second to none.
IMG_0248 by tommypei, on Flickr

Rafiki is another old favourite.
IMG_0250 by tommypei, on Flickr

It had been a pretty long (and very early) day so far, so we decided to grab a bit e to eat at the Landscapes of Flavour. Honestly, the place felt very food-court-like, and wasn't quite "our" kind of Disney. There were a ton of families and kids running around, and it really probably was perfect for all of them, but we were looking forward to getting to POR after a bit more exploring.

I had tandoori boneless chicken with squash, spinach, wild grain rice, naan bread, and tofu. It was actually really delicious.
IMG_0252 by tommypei, on Flickr

Grabbed a Mickey cupcake for dessert.


to be continued!...

 

[officialtom]

Day 1 cont'd:

We explored the resort a bit more. I was pretty blown away by the pool. I think it said somewhere that it's the largest pool at Disney. Also pretty cool that there is underwater music. Disney really thinks of everything!

IMG_0255 by tommypei, on Flickr

We took the cute little bridge over to Pop to have a quick look around. Like I said, we'd never been to a value resort so it was neat to get to know them a bit, and realize that they really are every bit as nice as the moderates, but just on a different level. I couldn't help but think about pics I had seen online of the Pop Legendary Years project that was abandoned after 9/11, and eventually turned into the beginnings of AOA. I'm glad they were finally able to make something of it.
IMG_0258 by tommypei, on Flickr

We got back to the room and hauled down the Murphy bed. Too damn cute. That's the end of Day 1!
IMG_0264 by tommypei, on Flickr

 

[officialtom]

Day 2: March 27th

Well, we didn't start off strong. Slept in after a very long day of travelling on Day 1. But we woke up to find it pretty nice outside, a bit cloudy but warm. 100% nicer than the frozen, snowy world at home. We packed up the few items we had taken out of our bags for the one-night stay at AOA, and dropped our luggage off for the transfer to POR. We had never done it before, but the luggage guys explained it all and gave us our tags. We swung into the food court for a quick breakfast. I had a bacon 'n egg sandwich on naan bread. It was really good, but messy.
IMG_0265 by tommypei, on Flickr

We hopped on the bus and mom snapped a rather unfortunate pic of me, but I guess I need to start posting pics of us rather than just the sights and food. She was bit confused by my DSLR but got the hang of it by the end of the trip.
IMG_0267 by tommypei, on Flickr

Our first stop was Downtown, which is probably my third favourite place at WDW after the EPCOT World Showcase and Mainstreet at MK. Our first shots with Mickey and Minnie.
IMG_0272 by tommypei, on Flickr
Excuse the Old Navy flip flips. Getting some decent ones was one of the first things on my list. I refuse to wear sneakers at WDW unless I'm on some kind of walking tour. Gotta soak up every bit of sun I can get.
IMG_0275 by tommypei, on Flickr

Of course mom needed a shot with Mrs. Potato Head
IMG_0276 by tommypei, on Flickr

Just the first of many incredible topiaries we'd see during our trip
IMG_0280 by tommypei, on Flickr

And, in turn, me with the Mister.
IMG_0281 by tommypei, on Flickr

We made the obligatory stop at Girhadelli's and this lovely little lady was handing out samples. I got raspberry -- not my favourite, but pretty good nonetheless. Also got a coffee, which was deeelicious. I'm always confused as to why the resort coffee is so disappointing, when they have such good coffee at DTD and the parks. I also dislike (strong word for WDW, I know!!!) that the resorts only offer cream. We both prefer milk tenfold. But anyway, talk about first world probs...
IMG_0284 by tommypei, on Flickr

Managed to slide by Stitch without getting spat on. I love the Disney store at DTD. It makes me really wish we had one somewhere close to home. But then again, I guess not having one close makes it even more special.
IMG_0285 by tommypei, on Flickr

Particularly liked this shirt:
IMG_0288 by tommypei, on Flickr

Sounds about right...
IMG_0290 by tommypei, on Flickr

The lego monster, and some of the Disney Springs construction (which we really didn't mind):
IMG_0291 by tommypei, on Flickr

Someday I'll work up the nerve to take a flight on this thing.
IMG_0296 by tommypei, on Flickr

We decided to hop on the river taxi to head to POR -- home for us for the next seven nights. There were only a few people in line ahead of us, and one couple was from Halifax. We all had a good laugh about the nasty snowstorm pummelling everyone back home.
IMG_0303 by tommypei, on Flickr

We rode down through the French Quarter. Beautiful even on a cloudy day.
IMG_0312 by tommypei, on Flickr

A mom & me selfie on the boat


Arrived to Riverside. What a great feeling.
IMG_0339 by tommypei, on Flickr

Got to the front desk. No wait at all. Got ourselves checked in and they upgraded us to a second floor river view in Magnolia Bend. Unreal!!! More incredible luck.
IMG_0345 by tommypei, on Flickr



To be continued...

 

[officialtom]

Day 2 cont'd: exploring POR and getting re-acquainted with our forever vacation home

Took a stroll through the old mill on the way to check out our room. Love all the details and craftsmanship.
IMG_0348 by tommypei, on Flickr

IMG_0353 by tommypei, on Flickr

IMG_0358 by tommypei, on Flickr

Two mourning doves foraging on the path. Called them Pat & Millie after my grandparents.
IMG_0360 by tommypei, on Flickr

And there she was...Acadia House! We were so pumped to be staying in Magnolia Bend for the first time. We've always stayed in the bayou, which we love just as much, but there's something just so relaxing and classy about the mansions.
IMG_0364 by tommypei, on Flickr

So grand!
IMG_0366 by tommypei, on Flickr

Our room, 8418, on the second floor and just a few away from the stairs.
IMG_0367 by tommypei, on Flickr

Overall, the room was very similar to others we've stayed in at Riverside and CS. It was all relatively new and updated, with a nice shiny clean bathroom and well-cared-for furniture. Nothing appeared old or warn. The TV and mini-fridge were quite new.

We loved the detail in the moulding, the headboards, and art.
IMG_0382 by tommypei, on Flickr

Here's a real quick video tour of the room:


The view was really wonderful. Lazy river running by... I could just feel the tension leaving my body as settled deeply into vacation mode.
IMG_0386 by tommypei, on Flickr

Our Magic Bands were waiting at the check-in desk for us, as promised, and we had no problem linking our credit cards to them. We also got "I'm Celebrating" pins...not really sure why, but why not!? We were pretty excited to try out the Fastpass+ system (including the iPhone app).
IMG_0389 by tommypei, on Flickr

My Magic Band. Decided to stick it on my right wrist with my watch.
IMG_0390 by tommypei, on Flickr

The view from our balcony/porch thing
IMG_0394 by tommypei, on Flickr

I love these signposts.
IMG_0398 by tommypei, on Flickr

Some pretty gorgeous flowers throughout the place even though it was still early, but once again, 100% more beautiful than the frozen wasteland at home!
IMG_0400 by tommypei, on Flickr

The story of Ol' Man Island's grand oak
IMG_0401 by tommypei, on Flickr

The mill and bridge. So beautiful.
IMG_0404 by tommypei, on Flickr

And the legend of the Island itself
IMG_0406 by tommypei, on Flickr

Mom, with her pin, relaxing on the dock
IMG_0408 by tommypei, on Flickr

More beautiful flowers
IMG_0413 by tommypei, on Flickr

To be continued...

 

[officialtom]

Day 2 cont'd again:

We decided to skip our afternoon EPCOT plans and just relax and explore POR a bit more. We always end up planning a bit more than we decide to do, but that's kind of the point of WDW... relax! Our luggage transfer arrived around 4:30, which was perfectly fine since we hadn't spent the day at a park or anything, and we took a few minutes to unpack and make ourselves at home.

Swung into the gift shop to take a look around. Love the displays. I didn't even notice the Canada sticker on this crate until right now!
IMG_0420 by tommypei, on Flickr

And into Boatwright's for supper. This is probably one of our favourite restaurants at WDW, and we'd argue that it's the best moderate resort food available. Pair the food with the incredible service, and the whole experience is always A+++. We had a brief wait and just sat on one of the benches to watch the world go by for a few minutes.
IMG_0427 by tommypei, on Flickr

The warm, buttery cornbread is definitely a favourite of ours. Easily one of the best tastes of Disney, especially so early in the trip!!! I probably could have filled up on just the cornbread and been perfectly happy.
IMG_0430 by tommypei, on Flickr

A really lovely lady named Lee served us. I think she may be from the Philippines. We instantly recognized her from our first ever on-site trip several years ago, when we stayed at POR for the first time. We told her how great it was to see her again, and she told us she'd been working at Boatwright's for 16 years and loved every day of it. She was an absolutely joy and took care of us like we were her own family. I wish I'd thought to get a pic taken with her.

I ordered the pork chop, which was truly delicious. I'm not always a big fan of pork, since it's often pretty tough, but this chop fell to pieces in my mouth. Tender like chicken and perfectly spiced. It was unreal and came with cheesy grits that were mouthwateringly delicious. Mom had the pasta with shrimp, which was also amazing and loaded with lots of shrimp.
IMG_0433 by tommypei, on Flickr

Had a piece of chocolate cake for dessert and could hardly eat half of it.
IMG_0435 by tommypei, on Flickr

We wrapped up our supper and decided to head to EPCOT to wander around a bit and catch Illuminations. We waited just a few minutes, and appreciated that the bus times are all displayed on screens inside the stations. Hopped on at 8:07.

Spaceship Earth. On its own, it's not really much to look at. But couple it with what it means, and it's one of my top 5 sights at WDW.
IMG_0436 by tommypei, on Flickr

Illuminations is my favourite fireworks show at WDW and anywhere, really. The music, the story, even the voice is just so entrancing and captivating. It was a beautiful cool calm night.
*Disclaimer: this is my first time taking firework shots with my new camera

IMG_0458 by tommypei, on Flickr

Pretty happy with how this one turned out.
IMG_0531 by tommypei, on Flickr

No idea what happened here...
IMG_0536 by tommypei, on Flickr

Even more beautiful with the palms and spotlight glow
IMG_0544 by tommypei, on Flickr

First real "tourist" shot
IMG_0552 by tommypei, on Flickr

We snuck into one of the gift shops along the lake just before it closed and I picked up a subtly-themed Mickey toothbrush holder and soap dispenser for my bathroom. I'll try to remember to add a pic later.

We decided to call it a night and joined the mass exodus to the bus line. The queue for Riverside was absolutely full and overflowing, but we got on the second bus to show up.

We got back to POR to the sound of some pretty loud (surly?) laughter and singing from the lounge. Yehaa Bob was playing -- we hadn't seen him since our first trip! We sat and watched for a half hour as he drove the crowd wild. He's truly meant to do what he's doing.
IMG_0559 by tommypei, on Flickr

A quick video of Bob's show:


And another, from my camera:
https://flic.kr/p/nWoHZw

Spent a few minutes relaxing by the fire:


And with that, we called it a night. Have I mentioned how incredibly comfortable the beds were? No trouble sleeping.

To be continued...

 

[joshsprincess921]

Following along, can't wait to hear more!

 

[officialtom]

Day 3 - March 28th: MK, here we come!!!

After sleeping in later than expected, we spent part of the morning relaxing at the pool with the not-so-great resort coffee (honestly, why can't they fix the coffee??).
IMG_0570 by tommypei, on Flickr

It was a gorgeous sunny morning
IMG_0564 by tommypei, on Flickr

I love POR
IMG_0566 by tommypei, on Flickr

I mean honestly, where else in the world can you get attention to detail like this???
IMG_0576 by tommypei, on Flickr

Cute little northern (??) cardinal
IMG_0578 by tommypei, on Flickr


We had bagels and cream cheese around 11 (yikes!) and finally hopped onto a bus for MK. Decided to wear my "partners" shirt that I picked up on our last trip.
IMG_0584 by tommypei, on Flickr

And there's the gate. Talk about overwhelming. What a feeling to be back.
IMG_0586 by tommypei, on Flickr

City Hall -- we were looking forward to stopping in there to check in for our Keys to the Kingdom tour later in the trip. We decided to go inside to ask about the Fastpass+ invitation we had gotten by email to try out Be Our Guest. Obviously, we wanted to give it a shot and we were pretty excited about trying WDW's newest and most talked-about restaurant. Anyway, the links wouldn't work for us, so they told us to just head to the restaurant and mention it to the folks working at the FP counter.
IMG_0588 by tommypei, on Flickr

And there she was, just waiting for us And the cranes were down!! Perfection. We'd actually been kind of worried that we'd need to Photoshop out the cranes, but somehow our luck was continuing!!!
IMG_0590 by tommypei, on Flickr

Stopped into Crystal Arts to chat with a glass blower
IMG_0593 by tommypei, on Flickr

Mom was really into it, but I was anxious to get the day rolling!
IMG_0594 by tommypei, on Flickr

Beautiful Mainstreet
IMG_0595 by tommypei, on Flickr

Mandatory insta


And a show going on ... I can never remember its name
IMG_0598 by tommypei, on Flickr

IMG_0601 by tommypei, on Flickr

One of my favourites. Kind of wanted to swipe it...
IMG_0602 by tommypei, on Flickr

Good timing
IMG_0606 by tommypei, on Flickr

Some ducks wandering around the drained moat. I always joke that I want to be a Disney Duck in my next life.
IMG_0612 by tommypei, on Flickr

To be continued...

 

[Doc Disney]

Love that this trip is just you and your mom! Seems really relaxing that way Although I am a self proclaimed Disney nut and drag my family around as much as possible so I guess I don't know how to relax at Disney haha. BTW your pictures are amazing

 

[DisSplash]

Love all your photos and the recounting of your trip. I am a mom, so I also love the fact that this a "you and mom" trip! I think that is the sweetest thing going. Your first firework pic was incredible! The second one, well .... it was interesting for sure. But I'll bet that you had many more opportunities during your trip to perfect your firework-photography technique. Looking forward to seeing more!

 

[officialtom]

Love that this trip is just you and your mom! Seems really relaxing that way Although I am a self proclaimed Disney nut and drag my family around as much as possible so I guess I don't know how to relax at Disney haha. BTW your pictures are amazing

Love all your photos and the recounting of your trip. I am a mom, so I also love the fact that this a "you and mom" trip! I think that is the sweetest thing going. Your first firework pic was incredible! The second one, well .... it was interesting for sure. But I'll bet that you had many more opportunities during your trip to perfect your firework-photography technique. Looking forward to seeing more!

Thanks guys! This was actually our second "just mom and me" trip and we had a blast. We're already planning the next trip. Hopefully this coming winter, but I'm also building a house at the moment so might have to hold off for another year or so. Fingers crossed!

I'm definitely into the relaxing factor of Disney. I mean, I love all the restaurants, most of the rides, and just kind of exploring every square inch, but all at a nice leisurely pace.

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for the share! Great pictures in a great TR!