Escape From Craziness to Pandora, Po Boys, and Oppressive Heat - Finished & New TR Link 12/28

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We were up by 7:00 this morning as we had all gotten in bed at a decent hour the night before and because we had to get everything sent off with bell services today as we were changing resort. By 7:30 we had everything ready to go and bell services came to get our bags.

I might be jumping ahead, but how is it having Disney move your bags for you? I am thinking of doing a split stay next time. (So, we can stay at the Poly for a night or two) We haven't done one yet, so I am not sure how I feel about it.

mean 3-4 minutes for a complete cycle and that can be a little long when you’re standing. Anyway, I told DW on this ride to the parks I hope we never come through this intersection again or I might just scream. Despite a four minute wait for the light to turn we were still at Hollywood Studios relatively quickly, by 8:40. We got inside the gates and got our view of Hollywood Boulevard.

It's half mental I am sure! I am impressed you packed up and were still at the park by 8:40!

 

[cstorm65]

I might be jumping ahead, but how is it having Disney move your bags for you? I am thinking of doing a split stay next time. (So, we can stay at the Poly for a night or two) We haven't done one yet, so I am not sure how I feel about it.

We've actually found it super easy to do a split stay. The process of having Disney move your bags is very easy! I'd say the only difficult thing would be if you have something like a laptop or something. I usually carry that with me in my bag for that day rather than send it with my big bags. That can be a little inconvenient, but I don't think I'd send that not knowing how the bags would get treated. Not that they'd throw it on purpose or anything, but things can happen. Again, it has been easy for us. Get up, have bell services get your bags, go to a park or Disney Spring, and then just take a bus to your new resort!

It's half mental I am sure! I am impressed you packed up and were still at the park by 8:40!

Well, packing cubes helped us a lot. Both DW and I had multiple packing cubes, a couple for the first resort and a couple for the second resort. So, we didn't have to get all of our stuff out at Pop, so it made packing things back up a lot easier than it could have been.

 

[cstorm65]

Day 7 Part 2 - The Longest FP Line Ever

I last left off where we were headed down towards Tower of Terror. I’m the only one who currently rides this ride and I had a FP for it, but I encountered the longest FP line I’ve ever been in! I mean it was 30 minutes before I even got inside the lobby.

Once I was in the pre-show it took another 15 minutes to get on the ride, so a total of 45 minutes in wait time. Once I got out the pre-show it was packed in the elevator room. They were having some kind of technical difficulty which was causing them to load ride vehicles in a super slow fashion. It was one of those deals where I was close to getting out of line, but every time I was I thought well, it’ll speed up at some point. Anyways it was a fun ride once I was finally in the elevator!

After finishing at Tower of Terror we headed over to use our next FP at Rock ‘n Roller Coaster:

This FP line was much quicker and so I was on the ride in about 10 minutes.

After finishing here we went through some of the shops there on Sunset Boulevard and DS5 found some cars he was wanting. I think we ended up letting him pick these as rewards for good behavior later in the trip!

I must have gotten scared again with Tower of Terror in the background!

Wait, I think I was scared of getting in that FP line again!

We also stopped in another shop where I found this shirt that I really liked and so I took a picture of it to try and remember it for later.

We were headed over to the other side of the park for some lunch here:

On the walk over DS1 decided it was time for a little bit of rest and so he fell asleep in the stroller. DW had the kids meal chicken and waffles and she said it was just. The chicken was just the basic Disney Chicken nuggets, so not anything special at all, although she did say the waffles were cooked really well!

DS5 got the kids meal hot dog. Again, not much to it, but that’s how he likes it!

I went with the Royal Guard Burger 1/3 lb Angus Beef Burger, Barbecued Brisket, Pepper Jack, lettuce, tomato, and a pickle on dark bun. And it was pretty good. The brisket was probably a little bit too drenched in BBQ sauce for my taste, but other than that is was a solid burger. The fries, as you may can tell in the picture, were a little undercooked for my taste.

Backlot Express isn’t a great meal, but it is about as good as it gets for quick service at Hollywood Studios, it is air conditioned, and they have drink machines where you can get refills!

After lunch DS5 and I went for a ride on Star Tours and had some fun in the queue line. DS5 was showing the droids his shirt.

After the ride we were ready to let DS5 pick a lightsaber that he had wanted. Unfortunately he wanted a Kylo Ren one and the only ones they had here like that wouldn’t not collapse for us to take home. So, we told him he could pick out one of the cheaper red lightsabers for around $12 and then we’d let him make his own later in the trip since he could build his own like he wanted. So, here he was!

After we finished we did Star Tours one more time before heading out of the park. It was about 1:00 when we headed out and we got a quick selfie before leaving. DS1 was still on a little hangover from his nap and not quite ready to take pictures yet!

We also found a Photopass Photographer on our way out:

There was a bus pulling up as soon as we got to the bus stop to take us to our home for the next seven nights, Port Orleans French Quarter. The boys had a fun bus ride!

Finally, at about 1:20 we saw this for the first time!

Up Next: French Quarter Resort Tour​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Wait, I think I was scared of getting in that FP line ag

Ha! I was thinking the same thing!

The brisket was probably a little bit too drenched in BBQ sauce for my taste,

That is how I like it usually. We wanted to try all of those things when we were there but we were on the wrong side of the park at lunch time.

DS5 was showing the droids his shirt.

Too funny.

DS1 was still on a little hangover from his nap and not quite ready to take pictures yet!

Poor thing.

There was a bus pulling up as soon as we got to the bus stop to take us to our home for the next seven nights, Port Orleans French Quarter. The boys had a fun bus ride!

YEAH! POFQ! Can't wait to hear how you like it.

 

[cstorm65]

Ha! I was thinking the same thing!

It was strange. They were running the ride, but only one elevator was working I think. I figured they might shut the standby queue off and only use the FP line since capacity was so low, but they just went on like nothing was wrong!

Too funny.

He ran ahead of me in line and this is how I found him when I caught up!

Poor thing.

That boy!! In the morning's he is happy as can be when he wakes up. I mean he wakes up singing and jumping in the bed and yelling "good morning". But waking up from a nap is a very different story. I think he is mad it wasn't night time so he could sleep longer!

YEAH! POFQ! Can't wait to hear how you like it.

First update coming now and there's already some magic!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 7 Part 3 - French Quarter Resort Tour

We had just arrived at our home for the next week, Port Orleans-French Quarter. The resort change couldn’t have been more smooth. We got up at Pop, checked our bags with bell services so they could transfer them, went to Hollywood Studios, and then taken the bus from their to our new resort. Disney makes a split stay so easy. Before long we were getting off the bus at our new home!

We headed inside to check in but it was just about 1:30, but I hadn’t gotten a text message yet that our room was ready. We got a great cast member with an iPad to check us in and he told us he could get us in a room right away. He started explaining to me how to get to our room in building 7 which is the farthest from the main building and not what we had requested, but before he finished explaining he said, “Wait...Hold on a minute.” He messed with the iPad and in not too long he said I’ve got a better room available for you and like that we were in building 4 which was exactly where we had requested. I don’t know what he saw that made him help us out like that, but it was perfect. Our room was just about 45 seconds from the food court and we were just in a standard room! A great arrival for sure! We headed out and looked around a little bit.

We eventually made it over to our room and I took a few pics before the boys went about destroying the room.

After we got a pack ‘n play delivered at about 2:00 we put the boys down for a nap. Our bags hadn’t arrived quite yet, but naps were in order! As they napped I went out and about to take some more pictures of the resort. Sorry if this is a little boring, but at least it’s boring with pictures and not me rambling!

This was right outside our room!

And here was some pics of the food court, Sassagoula Floatworks:

And a few of the pool and playground:

Here is a couple of the Sassagoula River and the boats to/from Disney Springs:

After the tour around the resort grounds I headed back to the room as we had plans for tonight!

Up Next: “That’s Not a Treehouse”​

 

[cstorm65]

Day 7 Part 4 - “That’s Not a Treehouse!”

I headed back towards the room after looking around the resort a little bit and I may or may not have taken a little nap of my own! By 3:45 we were waking the boys up for our evening plans. We had easy plans tonight of just taking the boat to Disney Springs and having dinner before turning in early. We headed out and I took a few pictures on our way to the boat dock.

I think we also stopped in the food court to fill our mugs.

We arrived at the boat dock at around 4:10. There was a boat there, but it was full, so we waited for the next one. DS5 waiting:

It only took about 10 minutes for another boat to arrive and it was kind of nice because we basically had a boat to ourselves, there was just one other couple onboard. We left and headed towards Disney Springs at 4:20 so of course I took some pictures on the way.

About the time we were passing the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs I told DS5, “Those are called the Treehouses.” He looked for a minute and then replied “Daddy, that’s not a treehouse, it looks like a house!” Well, I couldn’t argue, but I tried to explain that they just call them treehouses because they are built in the trees. He didn’t buy it!

We continued to make our way to Disney Springs and you get some really nice picture opportunities from on the boat.

We arrived at 4:40, so a 20 minute ride is not bad at all. Especially considering how poor the Disney Spring bus service can be from the resorts. We made it, but we had an ADR to get to:

Up Next: Who do I have to see about getting some food from these food trucks?​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

“Wait...Hold on a minute.” He messed with the iPad and in not too long he said I’ve got a better room available for you and like that we were in building 4 which was exactly where we had requested.

TOTALLY lucked out!

I love the fake street. So cute.

About the time we were passing the Treehouse Villas at Saratoga Springs I told DS5, “Those are called the Treehouses.” He looked for a minute and then replied “Daddy, that’s not a treehouse, it looks like a house!” Well, I couldn’t argue, but I tried to explain that they just call them treehouses because they are built in the trees. He didn’t buy it!

He was NOT buying it. Too funny!

 

[cstorm65]

TOTALLY lucked out!

I know. Not sure how that happened, but we'll take it!

I love the fake street. So cute.

I really loved the theming of this place. The little touches like the mini streets were great!

He was NOT buying it. Too funny!

Not a chance!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 7 Part 5 - Who do I have to see about getting some food from these food trucks?

We had just arrived at Disney Springs and were headed to our ADR. Of course we walked by World of Disney, but it was hard not going inside!

I mean it is just one of those things you have to do at Disney Springs is to shop there. Well, we would go there, just not right now. We had an ADR to get to at T-Rex. We arrived at 4:50, but the line just to check in for our ADR took me 15 minutes to get through. Here was the check in line:

Once I got to the front I checked in and we were seated within five minutes. DS5 was loving the scenery:

DS1 was a little spooked by all the noise, but he got over it pretty quick once some food arrived!

I have to apologize. You guys have all had that one day of your trip where the kids are just acting a little out of their minds. Well, this was the night. DS5 was making a few poor behavior choices and DS1...well, he was just acting like a one year old! So, I didn’t get many pictures taken between them acting like that and the chaos that is T-Rex. DW and I did share the nachos for our meal.

They were actually very good, but there just wasn’t a whole lot else on the menu that appealed to either of us. Our plan was to go hear let the boys eat, us share nachos, and enjoy the atmosphere and then go over to the food trucks and get a couple of items there to split as well. Let me just say, the food we had was good. I didn’t get pictures of the kids meals, but they enjoyed them. I will also say this restaurant is pure chaos. I mean there are servers running everywhere, tables are right on top of each other, not to mention the animals that come alive every few minutes. It was fun to do once, but I don’t know if I need to do that again for a while! We headed out about 6:00.

We headed down towards the food truck area and DS5 was still not acting very good so the plan was to basically grab us a quick bite to eat and then head back to get him in bed. Then we got to the food truck area and they weren’t open. It was 6:15 or so and no food anywhere in sight. I don’t know what was going on, but we were both so bummed. We had a couple of dishes we each wanted to try that looked so good. Oh well, we’ll make due. We went towards the bus stop as we could see lighting in the distance and we didn’t want to get rained on heading back all the way through the marketplace to the boat dock. We passed the new Coca Cola Store on the way:

We made it on a bus by 6:35.

We were back at French Quarter by 6:50. I got DW and I a meal to share, but I don’t remember what and for some reason I didn’t write it down. I did get a picture of the gelato selections at Sassagoula Floatworks.

After our second dinner and dessert, which we took to the room, we put the boys in bed at about 7:45. We also got our room settled while eating as our bags had been delivered. It was time for a good nights sleep!

Up Next: They Told You What?​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

We arrived at 4:50, but the line just to check in for our ADR took me 15 minutes to get through. Here was the check in line:

Yikes!

DW and I did share the nachos for our meal.

The nachos look pretty good, at least.

Then we got to the food truck area and they weren’t open. It was 6:15 or so and no food anywhere in sight.

Bummer. I know how dispointing that can be!

We were back at French Quarter by 6:50. I got DW and I a meal to share, but I don’t remember what and for some reason I didn’t write it down. I did get a picture of the gelato selections at Sassagoula Floatworks.

I can see what you were more intested in having...

 

[tori.bh3]

Love this trip report! I'm a high school teacher in the TX panhandle and we are feeling your teacher pain! Sending good vibes to you all and all the OK teachers!

 

[cstorm65]

Yikes!

It was crazy!!! And you can bet most of those people in line were not happy with the length of the line! Of course I'm pretty sure most of them didn't have a reservation. That is why we were seated within five minutes of me actually getting to the front of the line.

The nachos look pretty good, at least.

They were good. We really enjoyed them. There weren't a whole lot of entrees we wanted, but those were actually pretty tasty. I'd get them again...well, that is if I could make myself walk into that crazy place again.

Bummer. I know how dispointing that can be!

I know. Funny, same thing happened on our Christmas trip. I'm not sure what the deal is. I guess we just have bad luck when it comes to those.

I can see what you were more intested in having...

Love this trip report! I'm a high school teacher in the TX panhandle and we are feeling your teacher pain! Sending good vibes to you all and all the OK teachers!

Thanks for reading along! I'm glad we're back in school and hope that the walkout did some good in the long run. We will see!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 8 Part 1 - They Told You What?

After getting a really good night's sleep we were up by about 7:30 so we could had to another rope drop here:

We headed to the bus stop at 8:10 and only waited about five minutes before we were on our way. We arrived at Epcot at 8:25 and got in the annual passholder line. Sometimes this line is a lot shorter than the others and sometimes we found it much longer than the others. I guess it just depends on the time of day and things like that. Anyways, we were inside by 8:40 and seeing Spaceship Earth!

The Jammitors came out and played while people were waiting for the park to open at the base of Spaceship Earth, so that was a nice little bit of entertainment. The park opened at 8:55 and we headed quickly and purposefully over towards The Land. I went ahead and parked the stroller and DS5 and I were in the Soarin’ queue by 9:01, yes I looked at my watch!! We were on the ride by about 9:12 and this was my first ride on the new ride version.

We both loved it. I thought the new film was good, but we got seated in the middle section so I didn’t see a lot of the skewing. I did end up seeing it in another section later in the trip and they definitely have some problems with the bending of images, but it’s still a really great attraction.

We headed out into the land and at 9:25 or so we headed in for a ride on Living with the Land.

We headed out of the land and over to use our first FP of the day at the Epcot Character Spot. We love using a tier two FP here! Well, that was until today because this is one of the most bizarre stories I’ve ever been a part of! We arrived at 9:40 and saw a tour group heading into the standby entrance.

No big deal, we had a FP, or so we thought. We waited for about 5 minutes and moved up a little to where we were next to the cast member at the merge point. At that point I turned around and was playing with the boys and I heard the cast member get on the phone that was sitting there and then say something to my wife. I kind of heard what he said, but asked for clarification. He said about the people on the phone, “They told me to get all of the tour groups cleared out of the standby line before we let anyone in out of the FP line.” To which I followed up with, “They told you what?” Because surely I had heard him wrong. Well, he answered the same way and I couldn’t believe it.

So, long story short we stood at that point for 20 more minutes before we got to go wait in a line for five more minutes before meeting Mickey. I realize it was bad luck, but much to the surprise of my wife I handled it very well. I was nice to the cast member because it wasn’t his fault, he was just following orders. There was a group of people behind me that weren’t near as nice! Oh well, the boys had a little trouble waiting that long but finally we made it to see the main mouse!

And them some Goofy time! This face on this first picture gets me every time I see it!!!

And finally, Minnie, who DS1 loved!

Overall it was a good meet once we got inside, but the wait was awful, especially for having a FP. This also got us 20-30 minutes behind where we wanted to be in relation to our other FP’s on the day, so we would need to be flixible.

Up Next: Change of Plans​

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

The park opened at 8:55 and we headed quickly and purposefully over towards The Land. I went ahead and parked the stroller and DS5 and I were in the Soarin’ queue by 9:01, yes I looked at my watch!! We were on the ride by about 9:12 and this was my first ride on the new ride version.

Awsome that you got to ride first thing in the morning!

I started just snapping photos of just about anything to get the time stamps for our day.

So, long story short we stood at that point for 20 more minutes before we got to go wait in a line for five more minutes before meeting Mickey. I realize it was bad luck, but much to the surprise of my wife I handled it very well. I was nice to the cast member because it wasn’t his fault, he was just following orders. There was a group of people behind me that weren’t near as nice!

That is crazy! I mean at some point they do have to let the tour group in, but yikes!

it does pay to be nice sometimes. I can hear Morgan now, how unfair that was... Glad you guys took it in stride.

Looks like you got some great photos at least!

And you weren't kidding with that little tongue!

 

[ariel_fan76]

Following

 

[SweetSerenity]

I just read your entire report. Your sons are so adorable!

 

[cstorm65]

Awsome that you got to ride first thing in the morning!

It was pretty nice. Soarin' has become much more do-able first thing since Frozen has opened and now that they have the 3rd theatre.

I started just snapping photos of just about anything to get the time stamps for our day.

Great idea. I need to do that!!

That is crazy! I mean at some point they do have to let the tour group in, but yikes!

I know. I was kind of shocked. It just made for a bad wait, but I'm sure the characters deal with it all the time, so they were still great to be around!

it does pay to be nice sometimes. I can hear Morgan now, how unfair that was... Glad you guys took it in stride.

Well, I agree it was unfair! But we tried to stay as positive as we could.

Looks like you got some great photos at least!

By the time we got to the characters they were great, probably because they were glad the tour groups were gone.

And you weren't kidding with that little tongue!

Every picture!!

Following

Thanks for following along!

I just read your entire report. Your sons are so adorable!

Thanks for reading and following!

 

[cstorm65]

Day 8 Part 2 - Change of Plans

After our longer than planned trip to the Character Spot we headed over to Nemo as Braxton had been begging to see the sharks. First we took a ride on Seas with Nemo:

After riding we let the boys spend some time in the aquarium area. DS5 loved this area and I think he would run around here all day just looking at the fish, sharks, etc.

Not sure what DS5 is doing to his hair here!

We finally got out of here and had to get over to Test Track for another FP. It was going to be DS5’s first ride on Test Track. Of course one of our favorite places is on the way to Test Track so we stopped for a few minutes!

Then we headed over the Test Track and DS loved his first ride on this one. Unfortunately the ride took us about 45 minutes to get through even with a FP. We were on the ride in about 20-25 minutes, but the ride kept stopping after each scene because they were having some kind of issue. We did finally make it through though and DS5 still had a great time despite all of the stopping. I unfortunately can't find our ride photo. I think it probably had to do with all of the malfunctioning of the ride, but it was a great ride anyway for DS5!

After Test Rack it was about 12:00 and we headed back to the resort for a break.

We got to the bus stop at 12:05 and a bus was waiting on us! So before long we were back at French Quarter.

On the bus ride back DW and I decided we would change our original plans and take the evening off. The boys needed some pool time and we wanted to get another good night of sleep as they were a little worn out. We had MK scheduled for this evening, but we thought this would be a good change. We usually schedule a couple of extra MK nights to begin the trip just so that if we feel we have a day we need to change plans like this and rest we don’t feel like we are going to miss anything. Before long we were back at French Quarter.

We headed to get some lunch at Sassagoula Floatworks before putting the boys down for a nap. During this meal we found some big positives here and some big negatives. The positive is that the food it generally prepared fresh as you order it which is good, but the negative is that it wook about 25 minutes for us to get all of our food as some of us were getting things from different stations. DW had her’s first and was standing with the kids while I ordered mine and DS5’s food. It took them about 15 minutes for mine because they had to cook it, then I ordered DS5’s pizza which took about 10 minutes, so overall she was just standing waiting to pay and her food got a little cold. So, for a family ordering from multiple stations it was a little hard.

Here are a couple of the menu shots, including the desserts, and the beignets, which are their own category!

For my lunch I went with the shrimp po’boy and let me say this was fantastic. They had to cook the shrimp and fries fresh because it wasn’t all that busy which I appreciated, but it took a little bit. The bread for the po’boy was very soft which was nice and the remoulade sauce on top was great! After this day I’d order this meal a few more times and I’d always get a side of the sauce just to dip stuff in.

DW got the chicken biscuit. She thought it was ok, although she wasn’t a huge fan of the sweet sauce that was on it. Also, it got cold since she was waiting on DS5’s food and mine to get prepared.

DS5 got the cheese pizza and he loved it as did DS1 with his grilled cheese. DS5 loved to sit at this little table:

They always had cartoons playing and he would sit and eat without us having make him eat! A win for everyone!!

Up Next: “No Splash”​

 

[disneyAndi14]

We have had long waits at Character Spot with our FP a few times. We just got back from a stay at FQ and we really love it there.