1200 pics, 1100 miles, 15 deluxe dining meals, 1 great time at POR *Completed 9/5*

[annie170]

I have such a hard time relaxing at Disney. There's so much to do and I want to try and fit in as much as possible. I know I should, but I just don't.

I completely agree with you about the dining plan. I'm not sure I'd ever pay for the it again. Most of our trips happen in October when free dining is offered, so that's most likely the only way we'd get the dining plan.

Once again, I really enjoyed your trip report!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Juts a wonderful report Alan. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

I've never done the dining plan for the exact reasons for stated. For some I think it works out great, but it just wouldn't work for me. Same with ADR's. I like to stop and eat when I'm hungry, not when a reservation says so, lol.

I'm also a big park hopper person. I don't think I could do a trip and not have a hopper.

Once again, thank you for sharing. You have a lovely family and I'm so happy your trip was a magical one, and hopefully a new one isn't too far away.

 

[colachdec]

Awesome trip report! Your family is great and I just lived all the detail your put into your report. Thank you for all the work you put into it. Picked up some great tips too!
Until next trip...

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ByKnight]

I loved your tr thanks for sharing

 

[themommy]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us Alan! I know it's very time consuming and it is appreciated. Since I just started reading trip reports a couple of months ago, this is the first one that has ended. I'm so sad! It's amazing how attached and connected one can get. I'm going to miss ya'll! Hopefully I can find you again when you do another one. Somehow I am sure that will happen. I hope you and your family stay safe, happy and healthy!

Lisa

 

[aqua319]

Thanks for sharing your trip. I've really enjoyed reading about it. Glad you and your family had a great time! You definitely gave me some great ideas on restaurants to try sometime!

Hope your next trip is sooner rather than later!!

 

[starousse]

Really enjoyed your trip report. Can't wait till you go back

 

[Connie96]

Thanks for sharing your trip report, Alan! I really enjoyed it.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Thank you so much for a great read!

Really agree with you about the Dining Plan. We like our appetizers, we like to have days where we don't have a dining reservation and since Disney doesn't offer a Dining Plan that fits all our needs and budget, paying out of pocket is a welcome relief!

Your pictures were all great. What a nice family you have!

 

[SunnieRN]

I'm a firm believer in learning from my experiences...so I made a few notes of some things I would do differently on future trips:

1. Stay 7 nights instead of 6. We've done both and this time 6 nights seemed to be too short. In the future I would do an 8-day park pass with hopper and stay on property for 7 nights.

2. No dining plan. Dine out of pocket for the entire trip. Deluxe Dining is waaayyyy too much food and it is expensive. Regular dining doesn't include appetizers and is somewhat restrictive. I believe we would come out much better to just order what we want and pay out of pocket than to be restricted by a dining plan.

3. Not as many ADRs. Make reservations for the most coveted meals then wait until closer to time for others. Plan to do more QS meals so that we aren't constantly watching the clock until time for our next meal. Make a list of the best out of pocket values. (Ohana, Kona, Be Our Guest lunch, Yak & Yeti quick service, etc.)

4. Get park hopper instead of water parks option. They are the same price. We LOVE the water parks but I now think park hopper would be more desirable. Park hopper will allow us to go back to Magic Kingdom late every night after dinner. AND with no dining plan each family member can go wherever he or she wants each day.

5. New touring plans: rope drop some days, sleep in some days. Use FP+ during the most busy times. Plan to tour more at night when it is cooler and the crowds aren't so bad.

6. Relax a little. Plan to spend some time at the resort pool, have a drink at the pool bar, etc. We loved Port Orleans! In the future I hope to just kick back and enjoy all the resort has to offer a little more.

7. Restaurant notes: (a) Must Do = California Grill, Be Our Guest, Flying Fish, Yak & Yeti, Tony's (for tradition). (b) great values out of pocket = Kona, Sanaa, Ohana, Earl of Sandwich. (c) may want to go to some restaurants just for specific dishes only. I'd go to Raglan Road just for the bread pudding for dessert! or go to Sci-Fi for dessert only. (d) not a must do = Boma, Cape May Cafe. (e) Good value on deluxe dining plan, but not out of pocket = Tutto Italia, Narcoossees

Thank you ALL for reading along with this trip report! It has been a pleasure! I wish you all safe travels and lots of fun at Disney World! Hopefully we will be going back sooner rather than later. One of my favorite Walt Disney quotes is, "keep moving forward." And that's exactly what we will do! Have a wonderful day!

I love this and it's great advice. We love the resorts and always have a resort day that is planned. The downtime is great and we always go to DTD or the outlets that day, depending upon the mood that strikes.

The dining plans have gotten costly. I fully believe DxDDP is the best value out of the existing plans but not at all the way I like to eat. I'm more of a grazer, lol. We are going with no dining plan this time, in October but this is partially because I am newly vegan and there are not the types of choices I would normally eat. So we will be doing a combination of QS, cooking, F&W and a TS thrown in now and again.

Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us and lots of fingers crossed for your January trip to fall into place!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Another great trip report and I like your closing thoughts. I know that the deluxe dining plan would be waaaaay too much food for our family. While I know that we are cutting it close to being even on the regular dining plan, I still like the convenience of having everything paid for ahead of time. Have you thought about the possibility of just the quick service plan?

It's been years since we've had park hoppers but we found ourselves wishing that we had them this past trip. Like you said, it would be nice to pop into a park later in the evening.

Oh and I almost forgot to say that I totally agree with you about a longer trip so you could have more down time. Over the years, our trips have grown from 5 days to a week, to a week and a half and now they are at two weeks. It's just the right balance of park time and down time.

 

[wulfgeat]

Really enjoyed your trip report. I think this is the first one I have ever read. I keep looking and have had difficulty finding others done as well. I have learned that there are lots of trip reports, some good trip reports, and a few great trip reports. This is one of the few.

 

[TinksThree]

Took me forever to get caught up to the end! Great TR! Enjoyed following along!!

 

[disneylover81]

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed reading all about your trip!

 

[dixonsontour]

Just come across your report and really enjoyed it

 

[leshunlenese]

I realize your tr is over but I started reading and I noticed o the first update! I love ole times!!! I went to school at valdosta state university and we ate there so much! The church I went to took the college students there one Sunday and i have loved it since. We stop every time we drive that way!

 

[partigus]

I'm joining. We stayed at PORFQ a VERY long time ago. It was our first visit to WDW and it was then considered a value resort believe it or not. I just told DH that we maybe should try POR on our next visit. It looks beautiful! Love all of the pictures.

Yes- I stayed here in the early 90's shortly after it opened. Disney went on a spree of hotel building about that time (I remember the Yacht and Beach Clubs were done, no Board walk though...The WL was under construction, and Key West was still the original Vacatio nClub....."Dixie Landings" as Riverside was known (FQ was Port Orleans) along with the Carib Beach resort MAY have seemed "value" at the time, simply because the the Disney Value properties had not yet been built.

 

[MrsB1228]

I can't believe I didn't find your trip reports before now Alan! I just had to tell you that I read it all in one big delightful gulp and I enjoyed every minute of it. You have a lovely family and you all seem to have such fun together. I love that you also include your dining experiences! I look forward to reading more of your reviews!

 

[summerw]

I just read the whole report and really enjoyed it. I love to read families having such a great time together, and I love all the "just 2 of us" time you got. I also love how you put so much detail in with the dates and times. I love to compare what people say to crowd level calendars etc and it makes it so much easier to think about what will work for us. You went to a lot of the same restaurants we're planning so it was great to see your thoughts on those, especially California Grill. We tried Narcossee's on our last trip when we had the DDP and loved it, but since we're paying out of pocket, it seemed like a good excuse to try a new one instead. DH really loved the water setting, but I'm thinking of asking to wait for a window table so he'll love that view as much. I think the sushi will clinch it though. Thanks!

 

[followthatmouse]

Alan, what a wonderful report. I'm sorry to be so late to the party. But, can't wait for your next adventure!