Rock On!! Because Devil Horns Do Belong at Disney. An Oct TR Updated 9/5 x10!

[marDgreen88]

Hooray for MAY! Ahh I can't wait! Hopefully I'll see y'all! I'll be at DHS I Saturday and MK a lot of Sunday, so it could happen! Hope y'all have a great time if I don't get to see ya.

 

[Chicago Mo]

the last of your pictures are great. Yet sad since you were going HOME!


Glad Jim is going. more and more he goes the more he will be your Dis nut too. pretty soon he will be on the boards here on the gaming section!

can't wait to hear about your little vacation! Hope work settles soon for you!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

Weird......I know that I had subscribed to this when you started it..... Soooooo, I was catching up on the wedding reception and saw the link for this TR. Imagine my surprise when I realized that somehow it was not on my list (which I am always horribly behind on anyways) aaaaaaand, that it was the last day of the trip...... I missed the whole thing......

well, now I have something to go back and read though especially since we have switched back to staying at CSR in Sept for free dining.....can't wait to see the pics.....better late than never, right

 

[Pluto0809]

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd stop in real quick today to let you know I'm still around. Things are really crazy at work and will be for the rest of May. I have non-stop budget meetings for the next three weeks. I will be back on the DIS in June to catch up on everyone else's threads and also start the TR for the trip last week. It was definitely an interesting trip with lots of highs and a few lows!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, I'll see you all in June!

 

[Luvchefmic]

Good Morning Ariana Glad to see you Ok good I have until June to go update too

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad to hear all is well, though busy! See you in June

 

[Chicago Mo]

Hello!!!

Can't wait for you to start the TR!!! the pictures are AMAZING!!! professional stuff you have!!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Catch you when you get back. Take care.

 

[Pluto0809]

It's nice that Jim agreed to go! Sounds like you guys are going to do a lot of fun things while you're there! Can't wait to read all about it I hope you do get a chance to ride the new Mine Train!!

I turned out to be a bit different than I imagined. But doesn't every trip?

That's nice that Jim decided to go with you.

Your plans sound great.

A little heads up as I just read this on FB on a friend's update who is at Disney right now. The wait time for Anna and Elsa was 240 minutes at 9:15 a.m. I'm so glad that Mary was able to snag fastpasses for us and at an earlier time too.

We ended up skipping the Anna and Elsa madness. Rope drop was crazy!

I absolutely LOVE all of your plans for your short trip. You are filling it with just the right amount of activity. I really do like sticking to just one park a day, but then again we travel with three kids.

And you know me well enough to know that I HAVE to mention...great food/ restaurant choices, too!!!

And POR... our home away from home. I really do miss that place.

We both loved POR! I still haven't tried POFQ, but as of right now, POR is my favorite of the moderates.

Hooray for MAY! Ahh I can't wait! Hopefully I'll see y'all! I'll be at DHS I Saturday and MK a lot of Sunday, so it could happen! Hope y'all have a great time if I don't get to see ya.

I did look for you on Sunday but it was so crowded!

the last of your pictures are great. Yet sad since you were going HOME!


Glad Jim is going. more and more he goes the more he will be your Dis nut too. pretty soon he will be on the boards here on the gaming section!

can't wait to hear about your little vacation! Hope work settles soon for you!

Work has finally settled down, I need to make sure I stop over at your PTR and get caught up because I want to read about the Chicago meet!

Weird......I know that I had subscribed to this when you started it..... Soooooo, I was catching up on the wedding reception and saw the link for this TR. Imagine my surprise when I realized that somehow it was not on my list (which I am always horribly behind on anyways) aaaaaaand, that it was the last day of the trip...... I missed the whole thing......

well, now I have something to go back and read though especially since we have switched back to staying at CSR in Sept for free dining.....can't wait to see the pics.....better late than never, right

Hope my time off the DIS gave you a chance to get caught up!

Good Morning Ariana Glad to see you Ok good I have until June to go update too

Hi Ruthie! Yeah, everything is ok here, hope things are good with you too.

Glad to hear all is well, though busy! See you in June

It's June and I'm back!

Hello!!!

Can't wait for you to start the TR!!! the pictures are AMAZING!!! professional stuff you have!!!

Thanks, the May portion is coming right up!

Catch you when you get back. Take care.

Thanks, it was a crazy few weeks but the worse is behind me now.

 

[Pluto0809]

I decided not to do a separate intro for this trip since it’s really just a continuation of the October trip. If you want to refresh your memories about Jim and I, flip back to the first page of the TR.

Friday, May 2nd, 2014 was the start of our very short Flower and Garden weekend. Well it really started on Thursday night when we dropped the doggies off at our local vets where we board them. It was really strange not having them in the house! I will admit that I slept a little better than when they are in bed with us.

We were up on Friday morning at 3:30 am because we had a very early 8 am flight. We left the house at:



Which was 5 minutes later than I wanted to. I was actually ready on time and in the car, it was Jim holding us up this time.

We made it to the lot where we park and onto a bus to the airport in no time at all. Jim went a few weeks ago and got the TSA Pre-Check done so he headed off to that line while I waited in the regular security line. It wasn’t too long but they only had a few lanes open so it seemed to take forever. Jim of course got through in a few minutes and I ended up meeting him at the gate.

We loaded on time and when we got on the plane, I got out our Magic Bands to put on. I had to take a picture of mine, I really love the Passholder slider and the Pluto sticker.



And in case anyone is wondering, the sticker held up wonderfully over the four days we were there. It looked just as nice on the last day as it did in that picture. It stuck to the MB really well and never peeled at all.

Our flight was uneventful, Jim dozed the whole time and I read. We are really only in the air for about an hour so we landed right before 9:30 am.

We headed straight to the Magical Express and got in line. As you can see, it was pretty much empty at this time of day.



We were the first ones on our bus so of course I grabbed the front seat. I was bummed though because we had a plain yellow Mears bus. No Disney movie for us. Jim pretended to be excited, you can see by the photo that he chose a red MB this time.



I noticed that there were some construction workers out the window looking at some plans.



We sat there for a while as the bus filled with people. Right before we headed out our bus driver said he was going to play a Disney movie for us.



I got pretty excited when I saw this:



Anyone guess yet which movie we were going to watch? Maybe this will help:



Frozen! I was pretty excited as I love that movie. I still took the time to do some “we are in Florida” shots out the front window.





I got wrapped up in the movie and before I knew it, this came into view.









Yes I took way too many pictures. We were the fourth stop, first up was Saratoga Springs. We were then supposed to stop at Key West but there was no one on our bus going there. Third stop was French Quarter and then finally we made it to Riverside. Some very bad shots out the bus window.





We didn’t get to see all of Frozen, we were right at the part were Anna was entering the ice palace to confront Elsa. I was almost sad to leave the bus but still jumped up as soon as we stopped. Since we were in the front and didn’t have any luggage under the bus, we were first in line at the online check in. The regular line was already 30 people deep before our bus load so I’m really glad I did the online check in. I’m not quite sure why anyone would not want to do the online check in?

The lobby at POR is so pretty.



Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Continued from Previous Post



I loved these big paddle fans.



Check-in took no time at all and our room was ready! That’s the fifth trip in a row my room was ready despite all of them having an earlier arrival than the 3 pm posted time. I’ve either gotten really lucky or the online check in is worth something.

We were in building 15, room 1553 on the second floor in Alligator Bayou. Building 15 is preferred and that is what I paid for. There were no regular rooms at the discount rate when I booked the trip and that was fine with me.

We found our room and of course I immediately started taking pictures.



This little washboard on the sink was cute but I will say that I stubbed my toe on the legs more than once. Of course I’m a huge klutz so others may not have that problem.





The Alligator Bayou rooms actually sleep 5 people. See this cute bench?



It folds down into a small bed!



It’s probably a little too short for an adult but would work well for a child.

Between the pull down bed and the bathroom was the refrigerator and coffee maker.



And of course room pictures would not be complete without Mickey!



Some more of the small touches in the room:











I stepped outside and took a picture of our view.





Not bad, we were facing a parking lot but the foliage was so thick you couldn’t see much of it.

Up next: How Did I Screw That Up So Badly?

 

[Luvchefmic]

I never saw the inside of that resort I LOVE it Seems like so many pick FQ I would go with Riverside I too would be crashing into that washboard on the sink, cute, but would be a problem for me too I must be klutzy


YES I think your early entries are definitely tied in to doing the on-line check in just an opinion of course but seems I always lucked out with that too Just a regular yellow Mears bus that early in the day huh seems strange but hey it got you to your destination so that's all that really matters

 

[marDgreen88]

So... I'm pretty sure I DID see Jim that Sunday. I was in line for Be Our Guest and there was a guy at the exit door on his phone. If it wasn't Jim, it was his twin. But then I never saw him leave and I looked for you inside and didn't see you, so maybe he DOES have a twin.

The room at Riverside looks cute! I love that resort. Ugh, I'm sure your next update (or the next ten) will include rain, rain, and more rain. Bummer! Hope y'all managed to still have a great time though. And at least Sunday's weather was amazing.

 

[missangelalexis]

I said this on your other TR, but glad to have you back and posting again!

Glad all the travel went smoothly! And it may not have been a Disney bus but at least you got to watch Frozen, so cool!

Your room is so nice, love that hidden bed!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Welcome back. I've stayed at POR but we got a room in the Mansions section. Nice to see the AB room.

Can't wait to see the next update.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! We stayed in building 14! Just LOVE IT!!!!

I love the new trundle bed.. Was not happy with the pull out last time!

Can't wait to hear everything!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

THAT was like seeing pictures of heaven for me. I just love por. I will be so sad when Gabe outgrows that little bed. I don't know where we will stay after that.

 

[katt789]

Yay for a new trip report!!
Sad that we couldn't end up meeting up since I changed our dates, but I'm sure I'll run into ya a few times during my program!!

Love the shots from the not so magical express! I feel like ya'll got pretty far into Frozen!! I guess I don't pay that much attention to the time that goes by when it's not one solid movie haha!

POR is definitely somewhere I want to stay, and we were actually booked in there in a royal room for the first week of May originally, I just like the look of those better, Sad day, we could've been neighbours!

Love the updates! Can't wait for more!!

 

[Pluto0809]

I never saw the inside of that resort I LOVE it Seems like so many pick FQ I would go with Riverside I too would be crashing into that washboard on the sink, cute, but would be a problem for me too I must be klutzy

I do love Riverside but I can't compare it yet to FQ because I haven't stayed there yet. I will be doing that in October!

YES I think your early entries are definitely tied in to doing the on-line check in just an opinion of course but seems I always lucked out with that too Just a regular yellow Mears bus that early in the day huh seems strange but hey it got you to your destination so that's all that really matters

I always seem to luck out with the online check in. Of course I'm not too picky about the room requests so that might help too.

I was bummed with the yellow Mears bus! I have yet to really see the new video because we had no sound on the February trip.

So... I'm pretty sure I DID see Jim that Sunday. I was in line for Be Our Guest and there was a guy at the exit door on his phone. If it wasn't Jim, it was his twin. But then I never saw him leave and I looked for you inside and didn't see you, so maybe he DOES have a twin.

Ah man, I'm pretty sure that was him! What time were you in line? When we finished lunch (probably between 12:30 and 1:00) I stopped to use the bathroom and Jim when outside to make a phone call. We must have walked right past you when we left.

The room at Riverside looks cute! I love that resort. Ugh, I'm sure your next update (or the next ten) will include rain, rain, and more rain. Bummer! Hope y'all managed to still have a great time though. And at least Sunday's weather was amazing.

The Alligator Bayou rooms are cute but next time I want to try out the mansions because I've never stayed in one of those. Yep, lots of rain coming up!

I said this on your other TR, but glad to have you back and posting again!

Glad all the travel went smoothly! And it may not have been a Disney bus but at least you got to watch Frozen, so cool!

Your room is so nice, love that hidden bed!

I really did enjoy watching Frozen but wish we could have had time to finish the movie. Well maybe not, we were at WDW after all!

The hidden bed is a really cute addition to those rooms.

Welcome back. I've stayed at POR but we got a room in the Mansions section. Nice to see the AB room.

Can't wait to see the next update.

I need to check out the Mansion rooms next because I've only stayed in AB at that resort.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! We stayed in building 14! Just LOVE IT!!!!

I love the new trundle bed.. Was not happy with the pull out last time!

Can't wait to hear everything!

We were of course right next to building 14. That was where I was hoping we'd end up but 15 worked just fine for us. The trundle bed is very cute.

THAT was like seeing pictures of heaven for me. I just love por. I will be so sad when Gabe outgrows that little bed. I don't know where we will stay after that.

I'm glad you enjoyed the picture tour. As of right now POR is my favorite of the moderates but I haven't stayed at POFQ yet. I'll be able to rank them all after Mom and I stay at POFQ in October!

Yay for a new trip report!!
Sad that we couldn't end up meeting up since I changed our dates, but I'm sure I'll run into ya a few times during my program!!

Oh yeah, I'm sure we will see each other in December! I so wanted to come back for the 24 hour day but there was no way I could get off of work.

Love the shots from the not so magical express! I feel like ya'll got pretty far into Frozen!! I guess I don't pay that much attention to the time that goes by when it's not one solid movie haha!

Well we were the third stop so we got further along because of that.

POR is definitely somewhere I want to stay, and we were actually booked in there in a royal room for the first week of May originally, I just like the look of those better, Sad day, we could've been neighbours!

Love the updates! Can't wait for more!!

That would have been fun to be neighbors! I originally was booked for a Royal Room but when Jim decided to join me I moved us to a preferred room instead. I didn't think he would appreciate the princess room plus it saved some money.

 

[Pluto0809]

Jim had a very large shipment going out the weekend we were at Disney (he ships oversized cargo all over the world) and when we got to the room he got a phone call. He had to fire up his computer for a minute to send an e-mail so it was close to 11:30 am by the time we left the room. I was hoping to have been in Epcot by that time. It would be cutting it close to make our first FP+ that started at 11:30. I wasn’t too worried because it was for Spaceship Earth and I was sure we could ride it without a FP.

It was spitting rain a little bit as we walked to the bus stop. I took two pictures as we walked. One of the little path outside of our building.



And one looking back across the parking lot at our building. We ended up cutting across that parking lot to get to the buses each morning because it was the quickest route.



The bus stop was a mad house of people and it seemed most of them were waiting to go to Epcot. Luckily we were standing by the area where the door opened so we got on the first bus that pulled up. I saw a second one pulling up right behind us so I’m pretty sure everyone got on between the two buses.

I found a seat but Jim stood up to let an older lady sit down next to me so we chatted a bit. She was there with her daughter and granddaughter. The granddaughter was participating in a dance competition and was out at a park already with her friends. It sounded like Grandma and Mom had decided to come at the last minute and had little clue what they were doing. They were talking about going to DTD to see the Boardwalk and I had to chime in and help them since the Boardwalk is nowhere near DTD. They were grateful that I corrected them and I spent the rest of the bus ride answering their questions.

By the time we pulled into Epcot, it was pouring. Luckily I had some cheap ponchos that I bought at Walmart so we put those on and headed towards the entrance. I went through first and stopped under the awning above the entrance to snap a few pictures.





Then I turned around to find Jim and he was still trying to get through the entrance. Apparently I had done something wrong and his ticket was not working. We talked to a CM right there with an IPad but their system was really slow (MDE did not work at all for me until Sunday) so he sent us back out of the park and over to Guest Relations. We ended up waiting in the pouring rain for ½ hour to see someone at Guest Relations. When the CM got into our account she said that the ticket attached to Jim’s magic band was his old ticket from October which was expired. How I managed to do that I’ll never figure out. And of course I thought everything was all set so I didn’t print out a copy of his new ticket. It took the CM a good 15 minutes to find his new ticket and get it attached to his MB. While we were there though, I took the time to purchase my Tables in Wonderland card so I guess it wasn’t all a loss.

By the time we headed back to the gates, it was well past the 12:30 expiration time of our first FP+ and we were starving. Neither of us had eaten anything other than the little biscuits they give you on Delta. Our plan had been to stroll around WS and eat from the booths but we didn’t feel like eating in the rain. So instead we headed towards the land building and Sunshine Seasons.

Well first I insisted we stop and get some Photopass Pictures taken. I bought Memory Maker for this trip because I was anticipating a lot of Character greets. Since we were only going to be there three days, we needed to get photos at every opportunity to get our money’s worth.





Aren’t those ponchos lovely?









The rain did slow down just enough for me to get a picture of the Mickey, Minnie, Pluto topiary which was on the other side of Spaceship Earth.



And then Jim insisted on taking me with Pluto.



We headed into the Land building to find Sunshine Seasons overflowing with people. I told Jim to meet me by the cash registers and we went our separate ways to get our food. We meet up again and tried to check out using my MB but the cashier told me I was over my limit. How that happened when I hadn’t spent anything yet I didn’t know. I had to dig out my credit card which was fun while wearing a poncho.

Finding a table was a bit crazy but we spotted one in the Winter section over by Living With the Land and Jim practically sprinted over to it and beat several other families. Funny thing, we both ended up getting the same exact meal as when we ate here in October. Jim got the Steak and Blue Cheese Sandwich with potato (or maybe it’s pasta?) salad:



I got the Rotisserie Chicken with mashed potatoes:



For dessert Jim got a brownie.



And I got Chocolate Mousse Cake.



The food was delicious as usual although I don’t even think I tasted it as I ate it so fast. I was just starving at that point!

We headed back out of the Land after we ate because it was still crazy crowded in there. Probably because it was still pouring out. I wanted to check out the festival center so we headed that way. We detoured through Mousegears because we thought that the pin board might be out. It was and while I didn’t find anything to trade for, Jim did.

We walked around the festival center for a few minutes, I mostly wanted to see the merchandise. I didn’t find anything that I needed to buy so we made a restroom stop and then headed out. I took a few pictures before we left.





I found another Pluto but he was inside a roped off area so I couldn’t get my picture with him.



Up Next: Splashing Around the World