happily single
Left foot first!
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2008
I have a bad habit of creating the best trip reports in my mind and not following through with completing them. I’ll even keep receipts, take notes and think of witty things to say-all to be long forgotten after I post the first installment. But this report is different. I’m doing it all in one shot.
Why did this trip almost no happen? Exactly 8 days before the trip I woke up to swelling and drooping on the right side of my face. I had been experiencing mild toothache pain for several days, but I couldn’t pinpoint which tooth. Thursday night I thought “I need to call the dentist in the morning”. Instead I was at Urgent Care at 7am on Friday morning. I received a prescription for antibiotics and scheduled an appointment for the following week with my dentist, who was out of the country on vacation. Long story, but I ended up in two different hospitals with facial cellulitis, the tooth ended up getting pulled out as it coulnd’t be saved. Then I was allegoric to the antibiotics prescribed. I didn’t pack until Friday and I was leaving Saturday morning.
Background: I’ve been to Disney dozens of times. This will be my third solo trip. I had planned on taking a solo trip in May, 2023, but a crazy girlfriend asked to come along. I didn’t think she would-so I agreed. And we had a great time. We are going back, with both of our families in November!
I am taking this trip because I am taking an on-line class that will meet for several hours on Sunday and cannot get any privacy at my house when I’m trying to do anything productive. It is hilarious how everyone seems to know when I have something important to do, because that’s exactly when they need me. Two weeks ago I had a 2 hour zoom meeting. I warned the boys 2 hours before and then 10 minutes beforehand that I would be unavailable for 2 hours (7pm-9pm). Without fail, the dogs refused to leave my room; then at 10 minutes into the zoom meeting older son wanted to see me. 30 minutes in, the dogs wanted out of my room; 45 minutes in the younger son wanted to hang out (letting the dogs into my room); Then the younger son decides to go up onto the deck and start dismantling something, scaring me and the dogs. I needed to get out of the house for this class! I am also planning a big business move and need to focus on these plans. It makes perfect sense to fly 1,200 miles and stay in a Disney Resort to do this! I even typed up a three page agenda for what I wanted to accomplish while in Disney.
The Plans:
Saturday 9/9/23 Fly Southwest out of PVD; direct flight at 11am, landing at 2pm
Tuesday 9/12/23 Fly Southwest from MCO to PVD leaving at 8:10pm and landing at 11:00pm
Hotel: Port Orleans Riverside Princess Room (Priceline deal)
Park: Epcot on Monday, weather permitting
Things: I had wanted to do the Halloween party, but it was only available on the day of my class. My class ran till 5pm or so. While I thought about it t the party sold out
Arias Brothers for a glass slipper with crystals, as seen on some social media
Tambu Lounge for pot stickers and bread pudding
Captain Hook for Tonga Toast (a tradition)
Gideon’s for cookies
Ghardelli’s for ice cream (a tradition)
I realize how long this report is getting, so I’m going to separate it into Transport; Hotel; Food instead of daily.
TRANSPORT/AIRPORT: After going back and forth I agreed to let my newly licensed and very inexperienced son drive me to/from the airport. We are so fortunate to live 8 minutes from TF Green. We did several trial drives the days before the trip and he did fine. The morning he was driving me he almost crashed my brand new SUV twice. I told him if he did it again we would turn around and go home. I had enough time to drive myself and park.
If you’ve ever flown TF Green you know how small the airport is. There was zero wait to check my bag at the Southwest counter. I hung out and waited before security until my son texted me he was home. There were literally 2 people in front of me in the security line.
I had paid for Early Bird Check In as I would be unable to check myself in at the 24 hour mark. I was B55. We boarded quickly. The guy in back of me (who hadn’t flown in 12 years) was B56, but his two young adult daughters were A10 and 11, although they all checked in at the same time.
My return flight wasn’t as smooth. As we were boarding the plane we could see lightening in the distance. Group A was fully boarded and Southwest announced due to weather they were going to delay boarding for a bit. We resumed boarding about 20 minutes later. Once fully boarded we taxied down the runway and stopped. And waited. And waited and waited some more. Finally the Captain advised that all flights were on hold due to storms to the west. They flight staff did provide water and snacks. After waiting almost 2 hours we finally took off. We were scheduled to land at 11pm and didn’t land until 1:30am!
I say this jokingly, kind of……..Can we remove screaming kids from flights? I was at the very back of the plane. From the minute I boarded until 45 minutes into the flight there was a toddler screaming Noooooooo over and over. I get that kids don’t like to sit still, take-off can hurt their ears, but this was non-stop, and the doors even closed. The flight was uneventful except for the screaming kid. We landed about 10 minutes early.
Does anyone else scratch their heads at the whole baggage claim and ground transport system in Terminal A and B? I know I’m going to mix this up, but I exited the terminal using the Fake-O-Rail, proceeded down one level to retrieve my bag. It took a FULL HOUR for many of the bags to come out of the luggage hold. Then I had to drag my bag up a level and across to the other terminal, down the elevator and allllllll the way across the terminal to Mears counter.
MEARS: Mears has self-scanners to check in for the shuttle. There were separate lines depending on which resort you were staying at. I got in line for the appropriate shuttle. There was one family of 5 ahead of me. We were asked to go to the waiting shuttle, which had just arrived. After loading about 20 people we left. It was interesting to note that the drop offs did not correspond with the names on the lines for our shuttle. We dropped off at GF; Poly and then Riverside. I believe he was then headed to SSR. My agenda allowed for 2 hours from landing to hotel room. I was running about 15 minutes behind due to the luggage delays. While on the shuttle I received the text that my room was ready. Oak Manor, Room 9076, first floor.
Return trip: Because I changed my flight (story below) I had to call Mears directly to change the shuttle day. I attempted multiple times to do this myself online but kept running into error messages. The woman I spoke with was super helpful and quick to assist. She did caution me to be exactly on time/early for my pick up as the driver can’t wait. Not a problem. I was scheduled to be picked up at 5:20pm. I went outside and waited at the appropriate spot at 5pm because I didn’t want to be late. About 5:10 a shuttle arrived, but the driver told me it wasn’t the one I was to be on. I had received a text notification with the name of the driver and the plate of the shuttle. So I waited a bit more. About 5:25 I checked the App and noticed it changed from a large shuttle to one of the mini vans; waiting, waiting and waiting. A bus showed up about 10 minutes past my pick up time. The driver told me I wasn’t on his list. He was kind enough to call dispatch who assured me my driver was “next door” picking up a family that was late, but he would be here momentarily. I was waiting so long Bell Services came over to see if I needed assistance! Another bus arrived and again I was told I wasn’t on his list. It was now almost 6pm. He also called dispatch and was told the driver of my shuttle was at my resort. He looked around, waited with me and finally told me he would just bring me to the airport which was much appreciated.
HOTEL: I stopped at the lobby to request a plastic key card as I was afraid I would lose my magic band. I also wanted to be sure that the magic band was linked to my hotel room. My room was a quick walk from the lobby, maybe 3-4 minutes, right over the bridge. The room was also just steps away from a quiet pool.
Room: I had a Princess Room (I think it’s called another name, but I will always refer to it as a Princess Room) as that was all that Priceline had available. Back in May, 2023 my GF and I stayed in French Quarter and loved it. However, there was about a $25 per night price difference, so I decided to try Riverside. I’ve read reviews that this class of rooms hadn’t been updated and were overdue. I also heard the carpets were dirty and the rooms dark as well as complaints about loud air conditioners My room did look like it needed to be “freshened up”, but everything was spotless. I did feel like the ceiling felt low. I did not have any issues with the air conditioning. I was so impressed with all of the little touches, like the gold plated faucets. I had two very minor issues. The light for the shower area was very slow to turn on fully. The pump for the body wash was broken. Otherwise I enjoyed the room. There was the new “amazon Alexa” device in the room. My room in the French Quarter also had this in May.
FOOD: After dropping my bags in my room I headed to the food court for a late lunch. When we stayed at FQ I really enjoyed the ”create your own entrée” they had. The mashed potatoes, green beans and bbq beef was very good. They had something similar here, so I ordered that. I also got a Mickey Cheesecake dessert. I don’t like my food to be steaming hot, I prefer warm to even room temperature. Unfortunately the entrée wasn’t great. It was barely room temp and had probably been sitting in the metal pans for a while. It appeared “fresh” when I ordered, otherwise I would have choosen something different. I also didn’t love the dessert. It was fine, but not “wow worthy”. I went back to the room to unpack and get to work on my agenda.
The next morning I went to the food court for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast bounty platter with a mickey waffle, eggs, tots and bacon and sausage. Again, the food was luke-warm.
I also had a cheeseburger and fries another day. It was ok. It made me realized I’ve never had a Disney burger!
I forgot to take a picture of the menu boards. There are more selections than you see online. Of note French Quarter has freestyle soda machines; Riverside does not.
Tambu Lounge: I went up to Tambu Lounge. It felt weird walking past the check in podium for O’Hana’s and walking right into the bar. There were no tables available in the lounge, so they asked if I was willing to sit at the bar. I wish I had a better experience here than I did.
The bartender wasn’t very friendly. He almost seemed bothered by me. I quickly ordered a Pina Colava, pot stickers and noodles. Just as my drink arrived a guy in his 30’s sat next to me. He ordered a Lapu Lapu and THREE orders of bread pudding. The bartender asked if he wanted the bread pudding packed to go and the guy said yes. It was funny, but he didn’t even know what a Lapu Lapu was. He was very surprised when he was handed his drink. As I was eating I saw a server come out of the kitchen with a bag packed with to go food for someone that had been standing at the bar. So I am guessing it’s hit or miss on whether you can do this.
I had originally wanted to try the wings as well as the noodles and pot stickers, but decided against them as it seemed like a lot of food for one person. I did not care for the noodles at all. I found them very greasy, salty and heavy. I was surprised to see that the bowl of pot stickers had about 12 of them. They were also very salty. I ate a few and requested a box to go. I also asked to have a bread pudding boxed to go. I cashed out and tipped over 25%. Then suddenly he was much nicer to me. Now, don’t misunderstand. He was never not nice, he just was not friendly. About 11pm I wanted a snack so I opened the pot stickers and noticed this (see photo). I’m thinking/hoping that it was a string from a vegetable. I noticed that several of the other pot stickers had similar strings. The bread pudding was delicious.
Poly: Its tradition that I go to the Poly at least once for Tonga Toast. While waiting in line to order I noticed a Breakfast Flatbread and at the last minute decided to order that. It took less than one minute to be ready. In fact, I hadn’t even finished paying when it was done. The flatbread was very tasty.
GIDEONS. On my last day I headed to Disney Springs to buy some cookies and check out the glass slippers I had seen on Social Media. It was a hot day, but tolerable. I got into line for Gideon’s at 10:55 and was walking out the doors with cookies in hand at 11:55. They were not doing the virtual queue. I got the lemon poppy, the other monthly special, a peanut butter and two triple chocolate cookies. I shared with my boys and their friends. They were all good.
GHIRADELLI’s. Another tradition is to get an ice cream sundae and milk at Ghirardelli’s. I did this on Saturday night. They have done away with servers bringing your ice cream to your table. Instead you now get a pager and come back for your order. I had no trouble finding a table. On Monday I returned for a quick snack and was surprised to see that they now offered several “mini sundaes”. I didn’t see that on my visit 2 days before. So I opted for a mini Ocean Beach sundae which was the perfect size. It was $12.46
DOLE WHIP: I forgot to get a Dole Whip while at the Poly. When I was here in May my friend and I attempted to find the Dole Whip Stand in Disney Springs, but ended up at the Margarita Stand instead. Don’t you hate when that happens lol? But I found the stand this trip and got a Dole Whip Float. Next time I’ll get it with vanilla ice cream as it was a lot of pineapple in one cup.
FRENCH QUARTER: I took a walk over to French Quarter one afternoon for lunch. I got a French Dip that took forever! It was good, much better than the food I’d been getting in Riverside. I also got an order of Beignets to go. They were good, but I prefer doughboys.
BUS TRANSPORT: About 7:30 pm on Saturday I headed out to Tambu Lounge. My plan was to take the MK bus; hop on the monorail for a ride through EPCOT to check out all of the construction, then walk to the Poly from the TTC. Just as I exited to lobby to head to the bus stop I could see a MK bus pulling into the station. There were two women closer to the bus then I was, and yet the bus pulled away. I could see that the bus was empty. The women were close enough to try to flag the driver down, but the bus didn’t stop. The monitor showed the next bus to MK was due in 14 minutes so we waited. That time grew and grew. About 25 minutes later another MK bus pulled in.
By the time I made it onto the monorail it was dark outside so I couldn’t get a good look at all of the construction. Just as I made it onto the Poly grounds fireworks started. I had always thought you needed to be on the beach to see the fireworks, but they were very visible and there was a large crowd watching from just outside the pool on the lawn area used for movies.
Coming home I took the monorail to the MK and bus to the resort. As I got to the bus terminal at MK the bus was just closing the doors and it was standing room only. There was one family and one ECV ahead of me in line. We waited, waited and waited some more. I was growing frustrated at seeing 2 and 3 busses for other resorts come while we waited for our bus. Finally a bus arrived and we packed in. This was the one and only time that the bus made multiple stops. I always got off at the lobby stop (North, maybe?) On our return trip this stop was the last stop. However, all other trips it was the first, and I assumed only, stop.
Another morning I attempted to go to EPCOT, with plans of getting off at the Poly. but again arrived as the bus was pulling away. The monitor showed the next bus wasn’t due for 30 minutes, so I decided to take a bus to MK.
I was not overly impressed with the bus transport this trip.
EPCOT: If the weather cooperated (not overly hot) I was going to do EPCOT on Monday. However, the family had other plans for me.
Shopping: I decided that for my one purchase (other than the refillable mug) would be the glass slipper from Arribas Crystal Store. I had seen this on a social media video. I thought I had googled it and the price was about $45-54. I was wrong! After going to Disney Springs 3 times and forgetting I finally made it there Monday afternoon. The glass slippers were $94 and they weren’t very nice. I’m a big believer/collector of crystals. These were not real crystals. The were very cheap looking so I passed on the purchase.
At the Poly I had noticed the caricature drawing stand and thought that a drawing of our dogs would make a great gift my son. Riverside also had a stand so I stopped by one evening when someone was working. After giving him the photo of our dogs and choosing the options (color, frame) I was handed a tag and asked to go to the gift ship to pay. The woman rang me up and the cost was……$101.00!!!! For a caricature of two dogs. I thought there was an error and she suggested I go back to the stand to inquire. The guy seemed ticked off that I didn’t want to pay $101 for a drawing of two dogs. The price listed was $35 and $45 per drawing. I assumed since I was getting one drawing that would be the price, but it was actually the price per “item” drawn. I passed on that gift.
Back Home: The trip comes to an unexpected end. About three weeks before my trip a very large hole appeared at the base on a 4 ft tall tree stump that was 20 feet from my bedroom. We had a bird feeder and twinkle lights attached to the stump. Something dug a large hole and we had no idea what it was. We thought bunnies since we are overrun with bunnies. My son was convinced it was a huge snake. We just left it. However, Saturday night as I was leaving for dinner my son sent me a photo of a dead baby animal in the hole. He was convinced that a snake had drug a rat into the hole. Ok. Nothing I could do and it wasn’t super important.
On Sunday my boyfriend went to the house to check in on the boys and feed them. He lives almost 2 hours away. He confirmed it was in fact a rat! They closed up the hole. He stayed at the house until about 4pm. At 6pm my son calls me to tell me he can hear noises in his ceiling, that he’s been hearing the noises for days (never told me his before) and it’s so loud the dogs can hear it. Of course, he didn’t mention it to the boyfriend while he was there. My younger son was at work, but I had him check it out when he got home. He didn’t see or hear anything. But I was freaking out, convinced there were a major water leak in the ceiling. My son was convinced it was animals. Boyfriend offered to return to my house the following morning, but I declined. I figured if there was an issue I needed to be there to manage it. So I made the adult decision to move my flight to Monday and to come home early. Fortunately it was only $75 to change my flight on Southwest. I’ve been home for a while now and the noise has not returned!
Expert travel hack-Years ago I was traveling to Vegas with my boyfriend. We had stayed with friends for a few days, but needed a hotel for the last night. Also, we had a late night flight home. So he booked TWO nights at the hotel. That way we had a place to clean up, rest and relax before our flight instead of having to check out at 11am and store our bags. I thought that was genius. Since I had already paid and reserved 3 nights at POR I decided to not check out early. I stayed in the room until about 4:30pm, went to the lobby, checked out, re-packed my bag and waited.
Why did this trip almost no happen? Exactly 8 days before the trip I woke up to swelling and drooping on the right side of my face. I had been experiencing mild toothache pain for several days, but I couldn’t pinpoint which tooth. Thursday night I thought “I need to call the dentist in the morning”. Instead I was at Urgent Care at 7am on Friday morning. I received a prescription for antibiotics and scheduled an appointment for the following week with my dentist, who was out of the country on vacation. Long story, but I ended up in two different hospitals with facial cellulitis, the tooth ended up getting pulled out as it coulnd’t be saved. Then I was allegoric to the antibiotics prescribed. I didn’t pack until Friday and I was leaving Saturday morning.
Background: I’ve been to Disney dozens of times. This will be my third solo trip. I had planned on taking a solo trip in May, 2023, but a crazy girlfriend asked to come along. I didn’t think she would-so I agreed. And we had a great time. We are going back, with both of our families in November!
I am taking this trip because I am taking an on-line class that will meet for several hours on Sunday and cannot get any privacy at my house when I’m trying to do anything productive. It is hilarious how everyone seems to know when I have something important to do, because that’s exactly when they need me. Two weeks ago I had a 2 hour zoom meeting. I warned the boys 2 hours before and then 10 minutes beforehand that I would be unavailable for 2 hours (7pm-9pm). Without fail, the dogs refused to leave my room; then at 10 minutes into the zoom meeting older son wanted to see me. 30 minutes in, the dogs wanted out of my room; 45 minutes in the younger son wanted to hang out (letting the dogs into my room); Then the younger son decides to go up onto the deck and start dismantling something, scaring me and the dogs. I needed to get out of the house for this class! I am also planning a big business move and need to focus on these plans. It makes perfect sense to fly 1,200 miles and stay in a Disney Resort to do this! I even typed up a three page agenda for what I wanted to accomplish while in Disney.
The Plans:
Saturday 9/9/23 Fly Southwest out of PVD; direct flight at 11am, landing at 2pm
Tuesday 9/12/23 Fly Southwest from MCO to PVD leaving at 8:10pm and landing at 11:00pm
Hotel: Port Orleans Riverside Princess Room (Priceline deal)
Park: Epcot on Monday, weather permitting
Things: I had wanted to do the Halloween party, but it was only available on the day of my class. My class ran till 5pm or so. While I thought about it t the party sold out
Arias Brothers for a glass slipper with crystals, as seen on some social media
Tambu Lounge for pot stickers and bread pudding
Captain Hook for Tonga Toast (a tradition)
Gideon’s for cookies
Ghardelli’s for ice cream (a tradition)
I realize how long this report is getting, so I’m going to separate it into Transport; Hotel; Food instead of daily.
TRANSPORT/AIRPORT: After going back and forth I agreed to let my newly licensed and very inexperienced son drive me to/from the airport. We are so fortunate to live 8 minutes from TF Green. We did several trial drives the days before the trip and he did fine. The morning he was driving me he almost crashed my brand new SUV twice. I told him if he did it again we would turn around and go home. I had enough time to drive myself and park.
If you’ve ever flown TF Green you know how small the airport is. There was zero wait to check my bag at the Southwest counter. I hung out and waited before security until my son texted me he was home. There were literally 2 people in front of me in the security line.
I had paid for Early Bird Check In as I would be unable to check myself in at the 24 hour mark. I was B55. We boarded quickly. The guy in back of me (who hadn’t flown in 12 years) was B56, but his two young adult daughters were A10 and 11, although they all checked in at the same time.
My return flight wasn’t as smooth. As we were boarding the plane we could see lightening in the distance. Group A was fully boarded and Southwest announced due to weather they were going to delay boarding for a bit. We resumed boarding about 20 minutes later. Once fully boarded we taxied down the runway and stopped. And waited. And waited and waited some more. Finally the Captain advised that all flights were on hold due to storms to the west. They flight staff did provide water and snacks. After waiting almost 2 hours we finally took off. We were scheduled to land at 11pm and didn’t land until 1:30am!
I say this jokingly, kind of……..Can we remove screaming kids from flights? I was at the very back of the plane. From the minute I boarded until 45 minutes into the flight there was a toddler screaming Noooooooo over and over. I get that kids don’t like to sit still, take-off can hurt their ears, but this was non-stop, and the doors even closed. The flight was uneventful except for the screaming kid. We landed about 10 minutes early.
Does anyone else scratch their heads at the whole baggage claim and ground transport system in Terminal A and B? I know I’m going to mix this up, but I exited the terminal using the Fake-O-Rail, proceeded down one level to retrieve my bag. It took a FULL HOUR for many of the bags to come out of the luggage hold. Then I had to drag my bag up a level and across to the other terminal, down the elevator and allllllll the way across the terminal to Mears counter.
MEARS: Mears has self-scanners to check in for the shuttle. There were separate lines depending on which resort you were staying at. I got in line for the appropriate shuttle. There was one family of 5 ahead of me. We were asked to go to the waiting shuttle, which had just arrived. After loading about 20 people we left. It was interesting to note that the drop offs did not correspond with the names on the lines for our shuttle. We dropped off at GF; Poly and then Riverside. I believe he was then headed to SSR. My agenda allowed for 2 hours from landing to hotel room. I was running about 15 minutes behind due to the luggage delays. While on the shuttle I received the text that my room was ready. Oak Manor, Room 9076, first floor.
Return trip: Because I changed my flight (story below) I had to call Mears directly to change the shuttle day. I attempted multiple times to do this myself online but kept running into error messages. The woman I spoke with was super helpful and quick to assist. She did caution me to be exactly on time/early for my pick up as the driver can’t wait. Not a problem. I was scheduled to be picked up at 5:20pm. I went outside and waited at the appropriate spot at 5pm because I didn’t want to be late. About 5:10 a shuttle arrived, but the driver told me it wasn’t the one I was to be on. I had received a text notification with the name of the driver and the plate of the shuttle. So I waited a bit more. About 5:25 I checked the App and noticed it changed from a large shuttle to one of the mini vans; waiting, waiting and waiting. A bus showed up about 10 minutes past my pick up time. The driver told me I wasn’t on his list. He was kind enough to call dispatch who assured me my driver was “next door” picking up a family that was late, but he would be here momentarily. I was waiting so long Bell Services came over to see if I needed assistance! Another bus arrived and again I was told I wasn’t on his list. It was now almost 6pm. He also called dispatch and was told the driver of my shuttle was at my resort. He looked around, waited with me and finally told me he would just bring me to the airport which was much appreciated.
HOTEL: I stopped at the lobby to request a plastic key card as I was afraid I would lose my magic band. I also wanted to be sure that the magic band was linked to my hotel room. My room was a quick walk from the lobby, maybe 3-4 minutes, right over the bridge. The room was also just steps away from a quiet pool.
Room: I had a Princess Room (I think it’s called another name, but I will always refer to it as a Princess Room) as that was all that Priceline had available. Back in May, 2023 my GF and I stayed in French Quarter and loved it. However, there was about a $25 per night price difference, so I decided to try Riverside. I’ve read reviews that this class of rooms hadn’t been updated and were overdue. I also heard the carpets were dirty and the rooms dark as well as complaints about loud air conditioners My room did look like it needed to be “freshened up”, but everything was spotless. I did feel like the ceiling felt low. I did not have any issues with the air conditioning. I was so impressed with all of the little touches, like the gold plated faucets. I had two very minor issues. The light for the shower area was very slow to turn on fully. The pump for the body wash was broken. Otherwise I enjoyed the room. There was the new “amazon Alexa” device in the room. My room in the French Quarter also had this in May.
FOOD: After dropping my bags in my room I headed to the food court for a late lunch. When we stayed at FQ I really enjoyed the ”create your own entrée” they had. The mashed potatoes, green beans and bbq beef was very good. They had something similar here, so I ordered that. I also got a Mickey Cheesecake dessert. I don’t like my food to be steaming hot, I prefer warm to even room temperature. Unfortunately the entrée wasn’t great. It was barely room temp and had probably been sitting in the metal pans for a while. It appeared “fresh” when I ordered, otherwise I would have choosen something different. I also didn’t love the dessert. It was fine, but not “wow worthy”. I went back to the room to unpack and get to work on my agenda.
The next morning I went to the food court for breakfast. I ordered the breakfast bounty platter with a mickey waffle, eggs, tots and bacon and sausage. Again, the food was luke-warm.
I also had a cheeseburger and fries another day. It was ok. It made me realized I’ve never had a Disney burger!
I forgot to take a picture of the menu boards. There are more selections than you see online. Of note French Quarter has freestyle soda machines; Riverside does not.
Tambu Lounge: I went up to Tambu Lounge. It felt weird walking past the check in podium for O’Hana’s and walking right into the bar. There were no tables available in the lounge, so they asked if I was willing to sit at the bar. I wish I had a better experience here than I did.
The bartender wasn’t very friendly. He almost seemed bothered by me. I quickly ordered a Pina Colava, pot stickers and noodles. Just as my drink arrived a guy in his 30’s sat next to me. He ordered a Lapu Lapu and THREE orders of bread pudding. The bartender asked if he wanted the bread pudding packed to go and the guy said yes. It was funny, but he didn’t even know what a Lapu Lapu was. He was very surprised when he was handed his drink. As I was eating I saw a server come out of the kitchen with a bag packed with to go food for someone that had been standing at the bar. So I am guessing it’s hit or miss on whether you can do this.
I had originally wanted to try the wings as well as the noodles and pot stickers, but decided against them as it seemed like a lot of food for one person. I did not care for the noodles at all. I found them very greasy, salty and heavy. I was surprised to see that the bowl of pot stickers had about 12 of them. They were also very salty. I ate a few and requested a box to go. I also asked to have a bread pudding boxed to go. I cashed out and tipped over 25%. Then suddenly he was much nicer to me. Now, don’t misunderstand. He was never not nice, he just was not friendly. About 11pm I wanted a snack so I opened the pot stickers and noticed this (see photo). I’m thinking/hoping that it was a string from a vegetable. I noticed that several of the other pot stickers had similar strings. The bread pudding was delicious.
Poly: Its tradition that I go to the Poly at least once for Tonga Toast. While waiting in line to order I noticed a Breakfast Flatbread and at the last minute decided to order that. It took less than one minute to be ready. In fact, I hadn’t even finished paying when it was done. The flatbread was very tasty.
GIDEONS. On my last day I headed to Disney Springs to buy some cookies and check out the glass slippers I had seen on Social Media. It was a hot day, but tolerable. I got into line for Gideon’s at 10:55 and was walking out the doors with cookies in hand at 11:55. They were not doing the virtual queue. I got the lemon poppy, the other monthly special, a peanut butter and two triple chocolate cookies. I shared with my boys and their friends. They were all good.
GHIRADELLI’s. Another tradition is to get an ice cream sundae and milk at Ghirardelli’s. I did this on Saturday night. They have done away with servers bringing your ice cream to your table. Instead you now get a pager and come back for your order. I had no trouble finding a table. On Monday I returned for a quick snack and was surprised to see that they now offered several “mini sundaes”. I didn’t see that on my visit 2 days before. So I opted for a mini Ocean Beach sundae which was the perfect size. It was $12.46
DOLE WHIP: I forgot to get a Dole Whip while at the Poly. When I was here in May my friend and I attempted to find the Dole Whip Stand in Disney Springs, but ended up at the Margarita Stand instead. Don’t you hate when that happens lol? But I found the stand this trip and got a Dole Whip Float. Next time I’ll get it with vanilla ice cream as it was a lot of pineapple in one cup.
FRENCH QUARTER: I took a walk over to French Quarter one afternoon for lunch. I got a French Dip that took forever! It was good, much better than the food I’d been getting in Riverside. I also got an order of Beignets to go. They were good, but I prefer doughboys.
BUS TRANSPORT: About 7:30 pm on Saturday I headed out to Tambu Lounge. My plan was to take the MK bus; hop on the monorail for a ride through EPCOT to check out all of the construction, then walk to the Poly from the TTC. Just as I exited to lobby to head to the bus stop I could see a MK bus pulling into the station. There were two women closer to the bus then I was, and yet the bus pulled away. I could see that the bus was empty. The women were close enough to try to flag the driver down, but the bus didn’t stop. The monitor showed the next bus to MK was due in 14 minutes so we waited. That time grew and grew. About 25 minutes later another MK bus pulled in.
By the time I made it onto the monorail it was dark outside so I couldn’t get a good look at all of the construction. Just as I made it onto the Poly grounds fireworks started. I had always thought you needed to be on the beach to see the fireworks, but they were very visible and there was a large crowd watching from just outside the pool on the lawn area used for movies.
Coming home I took the monorail to the MK and bus to the resort. As I got to the bus terminal at MK the bus was just closing the doors and it was standing room only. There was one family and one ECV ahead of me in line. We waited, waited and waited some more. I was growing frustrated at seeing 2 and 3 busses for other resorts come while we waited for our bus. Finally a bus arrived and we packed in. This was the one and only time that the bus made multiple stops. I always got off at the lobby stop (North, maybe?) On our return trip this stop was the last stop. However, all other trips it was the first, and I assumed only, stop.
Another morning I attempted to go to EPCOT, with plans of getting off at the Poly. but again arrived as the bus was pulling away. The monitor showed the next bus wasn’t due for 30 minutes, so I decided to take a bus to MK.
I was not overly impressed with the bus transport this trip.
EPCOT: If the weather cooperated (not overly hot) I was going to do EPCOT on Monday. However, the family had other plans for me.
Shopping: I decided that for my one purchase (other than the refillable mug) would be the glass slipper from Arribas Crystal Store. I had seen this on a social media video. I thought I had googled it and the price was about $45-54. I was wrong! After going to Disney Springs 3 times and forgetting I finally made it there Monday afternoon. The glass slippers were $94 and they weren’t very nice. I’m a big believer/collector of crystals. These were not real crystals. The were very cheap looking so I passed on the purchase.
At the Poly I had noticed the caricature drawing stand and thought that a drawing of our dogs would make a great gift my son. Riverside also had a stand so I stopped by one evening when someone was working. After giving him the photo of our dogs and choosing the options (color, frame) I was handed a tag and asked to go to the gift ship to pay. The woman rang me up and the cost was……$101.00!!!! For a caricature of two dogs. I thought there was an error and she suggested I go back to the stand to inquire. The guy seemed ticked off that I didn’t want to pay $101 for a drawing of two dogs. The price listed was $35 and $45 per drawing. I assumed since I was getting one drawing that would be the price, but it was actually the price per “item” drawn. I passed on that gift.
Back Home: The trip comes to an unexpected end. About three weeks before my trip a very large hole appeared at the base on a 4 ft tall tree stump that was 20 feet from my bedroom. We had a bird feeder and twinkle lights attached to the stump. Something dug a large hole and we had no idea what it was. We thought bunnies since we are overrun with bunnies. My son was convinced it was a huge snake. We just left it. However, Saturday night as I was leaving for dinner my son sent me a photo of a dead baby animal in the hole. He was convinced that a snake had drug a rat into the hole. Ok. Nothing I could do and it wasn’t super important.
On Sunday my boyfriend went to the house to check in on the boys and feed them. He lives almost 2 hours away. He confirmed it was in fact a rat! They closed up the hole. He stayed at the house until about 4pm. At 6pm my son calls me to tell me he can hear noises in his ceiling, that he’s been hearing the noises for days (never told me his before) and it’s so loud the dogs can hear it. Of course, he didn’t mention it to the boyfriend while he was there. My younger son was at work, but I had him check it out when he got home. He didn’t see or hear anything. But I was freaking out, convinced there were a major water leak in the ceiling. My son was convinced it was animals. Boyfriend offered to return to my house the following morning, but I declined. I figured if there was an issue I needed to be there to manage it. So I made the adult decision to move my flight to Monday and to come home early. Fortunately it was only $75 to change my flight on Southwest. I’ve been home for a while now and the noise has not returned!
Expert travel hack-Years ago I was traveling to Vegas with my boyfriend. We had stayed with friends for a few days, but needed a hotel for the last night. Also, we had a late night flight home. So he booked TWO nights at the hotel. That way we had a place to clean up, rest and relax before our flight instead of having to check out at 11am and store our bags. I thought that was genius. Since I had already paid and reserved 3 nights at POR I decided to not check out early. I stayed in the room until about 4:30pm, went to the lobby, checked out, re-packed my bag and waited.
