40th Birthday Merriment with Mickey! A Mar/Apr 2015 TR--Updated 5/3--Birthday Wishes &Fun!

[IndianaRRT]

And that’s a wrap! My 40th birthday trip to Disney is over, but the good news is that I get to relive it while I tell all my fellow DISers about all the fun we had. If you didn’t get the background from my PTR, you can find it here. Otherwise, let’s get to some quick (re)introductions and facts:

Me: Hi! I’m Mary! This trip was a surprise gift from my DH to celebrate the big 4-0.


DH: Disney lover like me, in addition to being the strong, silent type. Disney is one of the few places he'll relax and act like a kid.


DS: College freshman on spring break. He lamented the fact that he was not in PCB with his friends all week long, but he managed to suffer through. He and I share a birthday, so he sort-of-because-Mom-made-him-wear-the-birthday-pin-sometimes celebrated his 19th birthday this week also.


DD: Our sweet 16-year-old princess had a blast while she park hopped with us. This was a week-long extension of her spring break.


We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside from 3/29-4/2, with travel days on 3/28 and 4/3-4/4.


So here’s the short version if you don’t want to follow along:


Our trip was fabulous. Our resort was beautiful. We had a little pixie dust here and there. And we learned a TON, even though it wasn’t our 1st trip. We traveled home happy with our choices and the time we spent together.


But for those of you who want to go on our journey with us…stay tuned! We have tons of pictures of rides, fun, and food. And we’ll answer these burning questions—


How did we like the MagicBands?


Did our FP+ work?


What was the best meal? And what restaurant will we think twice before going to again?


Our favorite ride(s)?


Was the Memory Maker a good idea?


How many boat rides can 1 family take?!?!


And when are we going back?


All this and more as we celebrated the start of a new decade in the Happiest Place on Earth!!

 

[IndianaRRT]

This post reserved for table of contents

 

[IndianaRRT]

Day 1—On the road!!


When that alarm went off at 3AM, I was out of bed and rallying the troops! We had finished most of the packing the night before, so we put the last of the necessities in the suitcases in what was essentially still the middle of the night. DS and DD piled in the backseat with their electronics and headphones while DH loaded the luggage. A quick stop at McDs for coffee, and we were off before 4am!


Our destination for the night was the Hampton Inn in Lake Park, GA, just 5 minutes north of the Florida border. It was crazy how much cheaper it is to stay in Georgia versus driving a little farther into Florida! We made excellent time to Bowling Green, KY, then Nashville, TN and down through Chattanooga, TN. Once we crossed into Georgia, we were feeling pretty good about arriving at the hotel in time to have a good meal and some rest.


But then Atlanta happened. We are no strangers to the crazy traffic nightmares of the ATL. We travel there often to see friends and watch the Braves. We had just made it into the downtown area when we hit our first standstill. Then traffic crawled for an hour. I think we might have made it 15 miles. We got to an exit with shopping and food and thought we might gas up and stretch our legs. Then we noticed a state highway on the map that led to an outlet mall and thought it would be a great idea to head down that way, stop by an outlet store, then have a bite and get back on I-75 South past the construction we’d heard about.


The only problem was that everyone else had the same idea. It took us almost 2 hours to get the 17 miles to the outlet mall. We ate at the most crowded Denny’s I’ve ever seen and got a little shopping in. Then we made our way to the interstate. Minus our voluntary stop at the Denny’s and mall, it took us almost 4 hours to get to Macon from the north side of Atlanta—making that easily the worst trip through Atlanta we’ve ever had.


A couple more hours (or so) brought us to our stop in Lake Park, GA. We highly recommend the Hampton Inn there as it was clean and comfortable and just steps from a couple restaurants so we didn’t even have to get back into the car to eat. And we got to see a few palm trees! It made us even more excited to make it to Orlando to see Mickey!

 

[ursalita]

Hi there! So glad to see you've started your trip report and will be following along.

I'm happy to hear that you all had a great time. I can't even imagine the traffic you encountered it Atlanta. At least you got through it and had a nice stay in Georgia before Disney.

 

[IndianaRRT]

Hi there! So glad to see you've started your trip report and will be following along.

I'm happy to hear that you all had a great time. I can't even imagine the traffic you encountered it Atlanta. At least you got through it and had a nice stay in Georgia before Disney.

Thank you ursalita! It was a wonderful trip. Glad you're following!

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

Joining in on the fun! Happy belated! I just love birthday trips.

 

[IndianaRRT]

Joining in on the fun! Happy belated! I just love birthday trips.

Welcome and thank you! Updates coming soon!

 

[IndianaRRT]

Day 2. Part 1—Down by the Riverside


Boy, that alarm went off early! Not 3am this time, but 5. A shower, then breakfast, then gassing up the Jeep, and we were rolling by 7am! We were in Florida in a matter of minutes, and I saw my first Florida sunrise of the trip. Bee-you-ti-ful!


And HALLELUJAH for no major traffic issues!! A few hours later, we pulled into our home for the week. Port Orleans Riverside. We chose POR for many reasons: gorgeous scenery, more relaxed atmosphere, and we wanted the extra amenities at a moderate. And we were 100% not disappointed.


And here we had our first few lessons in the new technology since our 2010 visit. I did online check-in, but we arrived way before 3pm. I decided to head to registration and get our welcome packet even though I was sure our room wasn’t ready that early. The POR CMs were super nice, and we were greeted by one with an iPad, who led us over to the desk. Another CM checked to see if our room category had an opening. Despite my saying that “it’s really ok…we’ll just wait for the text…we know we’re early…”, the CM’s phone call netted us a room! Too sweet! As she typed in the info, I got the text message that our room was ready. So we learned that all the online things worked well.


While DD and I worked on that, DH and DS headed over to Riverside Mill to purchase our mugs for the week. And as we were headed into the entry vestibule, we had the great luck to run into 2 of my best girlfriends!

For those of you who read my PTR, you know K & S finished up a 7 day Disney cruise on the Magic and were staying at POR that night before their flight home Monday. We had dinner plans, but I never dreamed to see them that early. Bonus! Hugs all around, and while they checked in, DH disappeared.


When he surfaced, he had these:

I realized about halfway into driving that I’d left all my earrings at home, so he found these in the POR general store to match the Minnie Mouse shirt I’d made. Best DH ever!!


We, along with K & S, headed up to our respective rooms, dropped off our bags, and then it was down to POR boat dock for the first outing of the week! Downtown Disney! (Ahem...Disney Springs!)


If you haven’t taken the boat transportation POR offers, then you’re missing out. It was still just a little cool and breezy, but the ride was fun and relaxing. It took us 10 minutes or so to arrive, and the dock is situated perfectly among the shops. Our bellies were squawking, so the first stop was Earl of Sandwich.


We did not choose the DDP, and Earl of Sandwich is OOP-friendly. I chose the tuna wrap and broccoli-cheddar soup.

The wrap was a nice-sized portion and tasted so good! Kalamata olives are always a good pairing with tuna, and the wrap itself was fresh but didn’t fall apart with the heavy filling. The soup was just the right consistency and balance of flavors. We found a table outside, and all 6 of us were very happy.


After we satisfied our bellies, it was time to shop! My favorite souvenir of any Disney trip is a coffee mug, and I saw the perfect one in a window display. The sentiment was perfect—even though I’m almost 40, you’re never too old to believe in magic.

We did a quick turn into that merchandise section, but the display mug seemed to be the only one we saw. But once again, an awesome CM saved the day! She searched the computer, and asked me if we were headed to any parks today. I told her yes, we were going to Epcot. She jotted down the store there that had them in stock and sent us on our way. I stopped to purchase a lanyard for the Castaway Cay pin K gave me as a birthday gift, as well as a Mickey shirt. DS and DD found some things as well. Then we made our way to Goofy's Candy Co. for some rice krispie treats and other sweet things. We declared the visit a rousing success and boarded the boat to POR. We had our first park visit ahead of us!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Joining! Happy belated Birthday! I have my 40the coming soon and thinking of including The Mouse in the festivities as well (though thinking maybe Disney Cruise)

So great you room was ready and so fun to run into your friends early! Those hearings are cute and very nice job by DH picking them up - sounds like a good trip to DTD as well.

 

[ursalita]

Sounds like you had some great luck right away. It's so nice to get a room if you happen to check in early. How great to see your friends right away. And of course those earrings from DH. Earl of Sandwich sounds great. I don't think I've ever had olives in tuna but now I can't wait to try it. Pickles are usually my add on to tuna.

 

[IndianaRRT]

Joining! Happy belated Birthday! I have my 40the coming soon and thinking of including The Mouse in the festivities as well (though thinking maybe Disney Cruise)

So great you room was ready and so fun to run into your friends early! Those hearings are cute and very nice job by DH picking them up - sounds like a good trip to DTD as well.

and thank you! Welcome to the Big 4-0 Club! (Soon, soon!) This was the first time I celebrated my birthday, or anyone else's, at WDW, and it was delightful. So excited you'll be reading along. It was so fun to see my friends so early, and we had such a lovely first day with them. Hope you enjoy the rest of that day's adventures!

Sounds like you had some great luck right away. It's so nice to get a room if you happen to check in early. How great to see your friends right away. And of course those earrings from DH. Earl of Sandwich sounds great. I don't think I've ever had olives in tuna but now I can't wait to try it. Pickles are usually my add on to tuna.

Ursalita! We really felt like seeing the girls was a bit magical. Or maybe I have a broad interpretation of pixie dust . To us, it was perfect. And the earrings were a sweet surprise. Many people meet DH and feel intimidated at first because he's a big man and so, so quiet. But he's really my teddy bear and so considerate. He does stuff like that all the time. Oh, and if you like Greek food, you'll enjoy those Kalamata olives, but make sure you get ones already pitted. Saves so much work! They're so yummy in tuna and salads.

 

[IndianaRRT]

Day 2, Part 2—Around the World in…ahem…about 90 minutes (sorry Mr. Verne)


We returned to POR via the beautiful Sassagoula River and left our purchases in our room while K and S headed to theirs to get a nap in. We headed to the bus stop to get to Epcot…our first park of the trip! We had a FP+ for Soarin’ for which I was intent to arrive on time. After a 10 minute wait (which we found to be just less than average as our visit went along), the Epcot bus arrived, and we were off!


Epcot is my happy place, and coming into this beautiful place during the Flower and Garden festival was just magical.

We found a PhotoPass photographer and had some family photos snapped—which would quickly be a theme of the trip. My DH normally loathes having his picture made, but armed with the knowledge that he’d already paid for Memory Maker, he was determined to get his money’s worth. Wish I had this option for everything we do! (Spoiler alert: he was successful. I have a TON of pictures. Happy wife here!)


Our pictures taken, we headed straight to Soarin’, and we had our first FP+ experience. First impressions were very favorable. We scanned our Magicbands and walked right into the FP line. The advertised standby wait was 110 minutes, but we were in the theater and buckled in after about 25 minutes. Fantastic time saver! After a lovely trip over Cali, we headed to the World Showcase. We had another day at Epcot planned, so our first lap was just that—quick and fun.

We had another pic taken with a pretty famous landmark in the background,

stopped to enjoy some music in Morocco, enjoyed some of the gorgeous flowers for the festival, and made our way to Mexico. And who was waiting to welcome us to his fiesta? Donald! So, of course, we jumped in line!

After our visit with Donald, we had one more stop to make. Remember my coffee mug? Well, the fantastic Disney Springs CM told me we could find it at the Port of Entry, so ironically, we went there before exiting. And just as advertised, there was my mug! Souvenir in hand, we were ready to meet K and S for dinner. Yum yum!

 

[ursalita]

Hi Mary! You got some beautiful family pictures at Epcot. I especially like the one of just you and DH on the bridge.

Is that some skywriting in the first photo?

Isn't it nice to breeze through the lines with FP+? I loved it.

 

[Cando86]

Happy belated birthday!!!

Loving your report. So glad you got to get your mug - it's very cute!

Looking forward to more!

 

[ichabody]

Nice mug score! Awesome the CM helped you find it! Really enjoy your positive vibe as a family...that happy attitude goes a long way towards how much you enjoy your vacation! Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

 

[IndianaRRT]

Hi Mary! You got some beautiful family pictures at Epcot. I especially like the one of just you and DH on the bridge.

Is that some skywriting in the first photo?

Isn't it nice to breeze through the lines with FP+? I loved it.

Hello again! Thanks for the compliments! It's so easy to get pretty pictures when Epcot is as beautiful as it is. And yes, there was a plane doing skywriting that day with Easter messages. We were so pleased with FP+. It really makes a huge difference on high demand rides like Soarin'.

Happy belated birthday!!!

Loving your report. So glad you got to get your mug - it's very cute!

Looking forward to more!

Thank you so much and welcome! So glad you're enjoying this look back at our trip. My mug is a daily reminder of all the fun we had. I'm so glad we could track it down.

Nice mug score! Awesome the CM helped you find it! Really enjoy your positive vibe as a family...that happy attitude goes a long way towards how much you enjoy your vacation! Looking forward to the rest of your trip!

Thank you! I'm so happy you're following along with us! Thank you for the compliment on our positivity, but in all honesty, it's hard to be negative at Disney. Hope you enjoy our future updates!

 

[IndianaRRT]

Day 2, part 3—Wilderness Trails and Wishes


After a great afternoon at Epcot, we were ready to see our friends again, and we were hungry!


During the planning stages of our trip, when we all realized we’d be together at WDW for a night, finding the perfect evening activity seemed like a chore. We had park tickets, but K & S did not. None of us wanted to be somewhere crowded so we could enjoy each other’s company. And all of us agreed we wanted a good meal and to do something “Disney” we’d never done before. And then, we hit on a plan, made the ADR, and knew we’d found the answer…


We boarded the monorail and found ourselves at the Magic Kingdom boat docks after some transfers.


(And here’s a note: If you’re using Disney transportation, please make sure you allow enough time to arrive at your destination. Multiple transfers take time, especially at peak times like Spring Break. Don’t overlook this planning point. We made our ADR on time, but we heard many folks complaining they did not.)


We then boarded a boat for…Fort Wilderness! The ride to FW was so gorgeous and relaxing, and the CM did a wonderful job talking to us about the history of the lake and lagoon. He also pointed out where Walt had a brief boating mishap while scouting the Florida location. It was a very enjoyable journey to dinner, and we highly recommend it! We docked at FW and made the short walk to Trails’ End restaurant, where K & S were waiting.


Trails’ End is all-you-care-to-eat in a delightful country/cabin setting. The buffet was full of “down home” food: barbecue chicken and beef, mashed potatoes, vegetables, beans, etc. The dessert bar was well-stocked. K & S were already seated, and our server was very attentive and quick to refill our drinks while we noshed on fabulous comfort food. Everything was so, so good.

Smoked brisket, potato salad, corn, macaroni & cheese, and fried chicken!

Chocolate bundt cake, bread pudding, and banana pudding. I totally couldn't eat all this. DH had to help me.

She also was quick to notice that we had 3 (!!!) birthdays at the table: mine, S’s, and our DS. And we weren’t the only birthdays—a very sweet girl who was turning 6 was celebrating hers as well. Our server led the room in “Happy Birthday” wishes, and we enjoyed our first birthday treat from Disney, strawberry shortcake!

We ate ourselves silly, then we walked to the FW beach as it was almost time for Wishes. The beach wasn’t at all crowded, and the night was a bit cool. DH went to the Meadow Snack Bar and got us some coffee. It wasn’t long before the music began on the beach, and we were treated to the main event.


We knew because of the distance between FW and MK that we wouldn’t be able to see the whole show, but it was very easy to see the big, beautiful showers of light.

We were so happy with our plans for the night together. FW beach is a comfortable, quiet, and fun place to watch the show. The Wishes audio was easy to hear, even with some younger children playing on the beach. Soon after, the Electrical Water Pageant came by. (All my picture were blurry—sorry!) And in very Disney and Wishes fashion, we girls counted our blessings at being together and sharing the evening. Through college days with academic and boy drama, then later families, jobs, and daily life, we are so grateful for our lasting friendship. Sharing the night with my family and friends at Fort Wilderness was such a perfect way to start our vacation.

The boat arrived, so we rode back to MK, then boarded the bus to POR. And boy, were we exhausted! K & S had a 3:30 am wake-up to catch the ME bus to the airport, and we were Animal Kingdom-bound the next morning. Falling asleep was ever so easy.

 

[ursalita]

It's so great that you had such a great night at Fort Wilderness with friends.

 

[Glittercat]

What a fantastic place to turn 40! I'll be following along on that 40th birthday train in July. Can't wait to see how you celebrated!