Araminta18
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2016
Dunno anything about the POFQ renovations, but my husband and I stayed there in 2016 and loved it. So small and compact, fantastic bus service....it was great.
We are going back to Disney in FEBRUARY!!! Woo Hoo! If you you didn't follow my PTR, the original plan was to have both this Sept trip and the Feb trip. And then we started rethinking the vacation budget and Feb became on the chopping block. But we talked about it and decided to do this Feb trip on the "cheap" No dinning plan, mostly counter service meals, a moderate hotel, no special parties... Which I am totally fine with because we will be in DISNEY!
February has become our regularly scheduled time of year to go, it gets us out of the cold for a little and it is a nice temp in Florida. Since we are doing this trip on the cheap, I won't be doing a pre trip report. So, I will probably sprinkle a couple things in here maybe after I finish this trip report.
Anyway, we leave Wednesday, January 31st and come home Wednesday, February 7th. We picked afternoon flights this time, so no getting in super late, no needing to get our luggage before getting on magical express... But went with Wednesday to Wednesday to save some $$$ on airfare.
We booked a room only reservation at Port Orleans French Quarter! I am actually excited about this. I waited to see what the discounts would be from Disney and thought we would do Riverside if we could get a good discount, as French Quarter isn't usually included. But it came out and it was only for the Royal Rooms at Riverside and was still higher than a regular room at French Quarter. So, I just went with that! I did get a letter in the mail that they are doing some renovations at French Quarter when we will be there. Does anyone know how much they are doing? Anyone stay there? Did you guys like it?
It was sooooo good
She eats it dry! S
The noodles were dry!
am pretty sure they actually said oooohhhhh while she was doing it.
Seriously, how much marshmallow and rice krispees does Disney go through!?!?
We are going back to Disney in FEBRUARY!
But went with Wednesday to Wednesday to save some $$$ on airfare.
. We will see how long Morgan can keep the secret!
We did this but backwards of you bc we hit Ohana from MK, then took the monorail to the CR, then the boat to WL!We decided to take the boat from Wilderness Lodge to the Contemporary and then hop on the monorail from there around to the Polynesian.
Very nice. I think we were like one or two tables over from that bc we were looking out at the pool area. I bet we could’ve seen MK in the background but I didn’t even think to look!At 3:40 our beeper went off and we headed in to be seated. And we were taken to a table with this view!!!!!
Agreed on how strong it was! I couldn’t even finish it (I’m ashamed to admit).It was sooooo good! I wish I could of had 2! But it was strong!
I love a good salad and it sounds really good!I really liked this! I don't remember what the dressing was, but it had a crunch to it with the crispy wontons on it acting as croutons. I think it had edamame in it, which I love and if I remember correctly, the dressing was sweet but not overly sweet
Um, yummy!Not to long after they brought out the "appetizers"
That would be mine, too.The Potstickers were mine and Gwen's favorite.
I really want to try it someday but I can’t eat a lot in one sitting. I’m very much a grazer so I probably wouldn’t get my money’s worth. Boo hoo.The Beef was the best for me. Chicken had a good fire cooked smell to it. And the Shrimp was good. Nothing special about the Shrimp just good. Morgan ate a little of all of it. Gwen collected a lot of food on her plate and ate a teen tiny bit. Andy ate a ton! Auntie kept loading him up.
Yay! Riverside is my favorite but FQ is the only mod I haven’t ever had a chance to stay at. With my parents we never booked early enough to get it - and we almost always stayed moderate. But I always wanted to. Ever since 2012, we’ve stayed in DVC accommodations, so I don’t know if I ever will.We booked a room only reservation at Port Orleans French Quarter!
I’m interested to see how long she keeps it, as well!So, Morgan said she wanted to know about our next trip this time around and Gwen said she did not. So, that is how it stands at the moment. Morgan knows and Gwen doesn't. We will see how long Morgan can keep the secret!
Until.... I received an email from Disney saying that there was an issue with our fastpasses... Ugh!!!! I knew it was because of the MNSSHP day, we didn't have park tickets that day and a lot of folks were getting there passes cancelled. I didn't have time for this!?! I made DH call and see what the deal was. It turned out that we needed to ONLY have fast passes after 4:30 on our MNSSHP Day. So, the lady changed them for us. And we thought we were all set... Or were we?
And this trip one of the two elevators was out of order on our trip.
BUT when an elevator finally came! A man and son got off, and asked if we were headed to Magic Kingdom. We said yes, and he handed us (5) anytime fast passes! Good till next Saturday! We thanked him quickly as we jumped on the elevator and headed down. I felt bad not giving him a more proper thanks but I didn't want to wait another ice age for an elevator...
This is where I became "mean mommy" I wouldn't let them climb on the little ledges like that boy was doing. So, I was the worst mom EVER! Sigh. We moved on, it was 10:30 by now and already getting hot!
But it came out and it was only for the Royal Rooms at Riverside and was still higher than a regular room at French Quarter. So, I just went with that! I did get a letter in the mail that they are doing some renovations at French Quarter when we will be there. Does anyone know how much they are doing? Anyone stay there? Did you guys like it?
Definitely reason enough for me to want to go to Disney World!Why
Why Not? Am I right?!?
(see the small box sitting on the shelves RIGHT NEXT TO HER!)
2 decoys??? That is so cruel.I had DH hid 2 "decoy" boxes in the house until the big reveal. So, they opened up and...
Those are some excited faces!!!
Spoiler Alert... I finally had my first one of these on our trip!It is the semi-famous Grapefruit Schofferhofer beer! We love this beer, and I usually try to have at least a couple on our Disney trips.
****SPOILER ALERT*****
I ended up having zero of them this trip!
"First drink of the trip shot" makes me think of something a little bit different from your intended meaning...Our trip last Feb, we did basically the same thing, so we needed to get a 1st drink of the trip shot!
That's a great way to make use of that airport time. Glad they were able to get everything done before you got to Disney World.We told the girls they HAD to finish all of there work in the airport and/or on the plane. That we weren't going to do any homework in Disney. I don't know what is up with 2nd grade, but Morgan couldn't concentrate on her homework when she was in 2nd grade. And Gwen is REALLY struggling with it this year as well! Morgan finished before we needed to board the plane, and Gwen spent 75% of the flight doing homework... Sigh. But they finished!
Builds the immune system.And yes, we all sat on the yucky, dirty airport floor and lived the tell the tale!
Yeah, maybe just a little too excited. I did notice the price in the gift shops... holy crap. You did it the smart way.I was PROBABLY a LITTLE TOO excited about these. They were big sized!!!! And I used them the in the afternoon, I LOOOOVED THEM!!!! So, much so, that I went down to the Mercantile to see how much the big bottles were... Well, let's say I didn't buy any. If I wanted shampoo and conditioner it would have been $50! Yikes!!! So, instead, I hid the bottles each day so, I collected a couple trips worth!
Awesome!!!!BUT when an elevator finally came! A man and son got off, and asked if we were headed to Magic Kingdom. We said yes, and he handed us (5) anytime fast passes! Good till next Saturday! We thanked him quickly as we jumped on the elevator and headed down. I felt bad not giving him a more proper thanks but I didn't want to wait another ice age for an elevator...
DD. On every moving walkway or escalator she's ever been on.Does anyone else kids like to ride on the moving walkway and NOT WALK AT ALL?!?! OMG, Morgan always wants to let it move her, and it is sooooo slow....
Here's my secret. When the ride starts, turn away from the targets and point your gun at a blank wall. See where the dot is in relation to where you're aiming. It makes it a lot easier.I can't for the life of me tell where I am aiming.
Those things are awesome. I don't even know how many various types of frozen drinks we had.a Frozen Blue Fanta Drink, and some water.
DS rode something alone... I can't for the life of me remember off the top of my head, but the CM said 7 is the age when they allow it.The CM asked how old they were, they said 9 and 7 and that seemed to be a good enough answer. They were SO excited!
$299 a day? You could buy a very high quality stroller that you can take home with you forever for $299!So, I have NEVER seen these before. And of course my first thought was how much of a pain it probably is to push that thing! Well, I just looked up how much it cost to rent one... $299 a DAY!!!! Yikes. If your not scared off by the price here's there website. https://www.princesscarriagerentals.com I am sure that and a Bippity Bobbity Boutique makeover would def make a magical day.
I kept confusing DS by telling him we were driving underwater when the bus would go under that. He didn't get it even after we took a boat across and I explained it to him.I just love the water bridge, it just amazes me that the bridge can support the weight of the water.
So if you're cruising and the geyser is going off, you probably left a little before 3.We left Wilderness Lodge around 3:00. Actually as we were pulling out on the boat, we could see the geyser going off, so it might have been exactly 3:00.
I agree. I like that it is more open and really looks more like a hotel lobby should, but I really liked the whole "natural" feel of the old lobby.I honestly don't know how I feel about it. it's def not the same now, but the giant waterfall was so big and it kind of smelt funny. Guess it doesn't really matter.. it is what it is!
I don't get it. Niece likes Hei Hei too. We just never could find any good Moana souvenirs.Andy's sister asked us to look for a Hei Hei as they didn't have any when she was here. Sadly no Hei Hei.
No kidding!You could see the castle and space mountain! Gwen was obsessed with the Volcano Pool. She really wants to stay there now. I said you and me both! Start saving your pennies!
Disney has a reputation for sucking our wallets dry. They find ways to separate us from our money that we don't even see coming until we reach in to find nothing but dust. Yet there are so many opportunities like this that are just such easy and obvious ways for Disney to basically print unlimited supplies of money that they just totally miss out on.The girls were SUPER jealous that my drink came in a pineapple. They really should have a kid drink that comes in one, they could charge an arm and a leg for it, people would order it... I know I would get suckered into it for the girls...
It was a lot of kids and of a cluster. But the girls liked it, and really that is what it is for...
Awesome! Looks like it should be a lot of fun. I think POFQ is a good idea. That was our original plan before discounts came out and we felt like the price of upgrading to AKL for a nominal fee was worth it. I do want to stay at POFQ sometime, and I'm sure we'll have ample opportunity. I've noticed that the POR discounts tend to just be the Princess rooms most of the time. That was also the case for us this summer when the discounts came out because we looked into that as well.We are going back to Disney in FEBRUARY!!! Woo Hoo! If you you didn't follow my PTR, the original plan was to have both this Sept trip and the Feb trip. And then we started rethinking the vacation budget and Feb became on the chopping block. But we talked about it and decided to do this Feb trip on the "cheap" No dinning plan, mostly counter service meals, a moderate hotel, no special parties... Which I am totally fine with because we will be in DISNEY!
Doesn't it?!? Even if it is super far off, just knowing that you have one ahead just makes things seem ok.Always feels good to know when your next trip is!!!!!
Man... I am hoping to one day to have an in park meet up...Me and DD11 get there on 2/8 for her cheer competition if they get a bid!!! Will just miss you.
Thanks! My sister-in-law & brother-in-law say the same.Dunno anything about the POFQ renovations, but my husband and I stayed there in 2016 and loved it. So small and compact, fantastic bus service....it was great.
So close...Yay! If only you were going a month later, we could have had a dismeet!
I will have to remember that. I might ask for ground level... After all our waiting for the elevator this trip. Is there even elevators in these buildings?We were in Building 4, Level 2, which was perfectly convenient for the buses and lobby.
Thanks!For renovations, I think they are doing a soft goods refurb next year, so replacing furniture and such. Maybe replace carpets, but no large scale renovations like Pop or Colorado Springs. Probably won't affect you guys that much, as it would be within the rooms. They also tend to close off the entire building or floor when they are doing heavier work.
Ha. Maybe you had a heavy handed bartender... Mine was strong but not that bad. And I am not a strong drink drinker...Idk, but I was pretty much drinking straight up 151 from a pineapple...
I don't know if the noodles are to be dry. I did read someone else review of Ohana and they said the same. Maybe they are going for plain-ish. They aren't lo Mein-ish at all. So, I don't know.Really?! Are they meant to be?
Ha. Now I have an image of a building somewhere on property like Willie Wonka's factory for Fluff! Which by the way, DH always says Disney should have a Willy Wonka land. Which I am not even sure they own that property, but how AMAZING would that be!!!!A ton, I imagine. I’d be surprised if they didn’t actually just produce marshmallow fluff somewhere on property.
DH proposed the idea of Morgan giving Gwen a Christmas Present to make the reveal. But Morgan really wants to keep it a surprise right up to when we leave. Like pick them up from school and just drive to the airport and wait to see how long it takes her to figure it out...Lol! Maybe she can get in on the reveal!
Oh, I was finishing that thing!Agreed on how strong it was! I couldn’t even finish it (I’m ashamed to admit).
If you decide to do the dinning plan, it is only 1 table service credit. So, your big trip, it might be worth it if you decide to do the dinning plan. I wonder if the lapu lapu would be allowed for your one drink next year.... If so, who cares how much you eat?!?I really want to try it someday but I can’t eat a lot in one sitting. I’m very much a grazer so I probably wouldn’t get my money’s worth. Boo hoo.
I wouldn't expect you to know that you are official DVC owners!Ever since 2012, we’ve stayed in DVC accommodations, so I don’t know if I ever will.
It's the big cliff hanger of this trip report! I will keep you posted.I’m interested to see how long she keeps it, as well!
I sadly didn't finish that one. Maybe I will go back and finish it eventually... Glad you are hear now!I'm a little late to the game, but I just got caught up on your report! I know I read your last report from your short trip, but for some reason I didn't realized you'd started this one.
Oh no! What happened!!! Or maybe I don't want to know.I'm not surprised by this! When we were there this summer we had a scary elevator experience!
It was amazing luck. I always wish I could pass a little pixie dust like that over to someone else. But just haven't had the opportunity to. One day!How awesome! Amazing luck, and a very kind man!
I am def looking forward to trying it out. Honestly, we love the boat at Wilderness Lodge, so I am hoping at least being able to take the boat to Disney Springs will make it nice.Exciting that you're headed back in February!! We've started at POFQ and we LOVED it! Probably my favourite moderate (I've stayed at 3/4 and visited all of them) but this is controversial depending on what you value in a resort. I loved the small size/intimate feel. I hope you enjoy it!
I like to torcure the girls in little ways like this... I guess I am a mean mommy!2 decoys??? That is so cruel.
I love it!!!
Oh, Did you like it? Did you already write about it, and say it was just ok?Spoiler Alert... I finally had my first one of these on our trip!
Ha. Sorry.."First drink of the trip shot" makes me think of something a little bit different from your intended meaning...
That is what I like to think. We were once in a Target bathroom and a mom and a girl probably about 12 or 13 went into a stall together and the mom was prompting her to not touch the toilet seat... It was very strange...Builds the immune system.
So, you feel my pain...DD. On every moving walkway or escalator she's ever been on.
Oh! I will def try this in February!Here's my secret. When the ride starts, turn away from the targets and point your gun at a blank wall. See where the dot is in relation to where you're aiming. It makes it a lot easier.
Seriously! I feel like you have to have SERIOUS cash to feel ok doing this.$299 a day? You could buy a very high quality stroller that you can take home with you forever for $299!
Too funny!I kept confusing DS by telling him we were driving underwater when the bus would go under that. He didn't get it even after we took a boat across and I explained it to him.
Right?!? Our first trip, we went to Pizza Planet and Morgan left crying because she wanted a prize out of one of those claw games. Cause her only knowledge of this was Toy Story and they make it look easy... I said to DH, why don't they have one that is $30 to play and you get a prize each play... Just put real plush in the thing. Parents would TOTALLY do it! We would have.Disney has a reputation for sucking our wallets dry. They find ways to separate us from our money that we don't even see coming until we reach in to find nothing but dust. Yet there are so many opportunities like this that are just such easy and obvious ways for Disney to basically print unlimited supplies of money that they just totally miss out on.
I kind of felt like I had failed them.. They didn't seem to see how that was not a good place to look.Cracks me up the girls were looking in their dresser drawers.
Glad you are enjoying the report so far!Loving your report! I love your trip reveal, what fun!
Seriously! I am pretty sure we got some side eyes from some people while we were doing it...I also love that you survived the dirty airport floor! I remember as a kid so often it was way better to sit on the floor. Now I see parents making a huge deal about it and I'm just like, is it really? I mean, yes there are times it shouldn't be done (like in the check in line for BOG dinner? we ran into that) but most of the time, you'll live lol.
You do, do some crazy things for our kids but there is a line.. And this is def on the wrong side of the line for us...Oh my gosh those strollers! We saw them around, I can't believe how much they cost! I don't think I could bring myself to do it... I'd rather give my (future) kids more experiences. But who knows what will happen, maybe someday I'll just melt when they ask
It's win win... You get a drink, he gets dumplings... If you stay at the Poly... you can get the food delivered to your room! This might be a bucket list item for me...Need to try a Lapu Lapu, better put that on my list for next time! I didn't tell DH there's potstickers at O'hanas, he'd want to eat there for every meal
Sad. But you never know what will happen between now and then. maybe...We're going back at the end of January but leaving on the 30th. Always happy to have another trip planned. I'm worried about ours because we ended up with APs and they expire at the end of February, so that might be our last trip for awhile
Glad you are hear! I am so glad to have so many folks following along! I love re-living the trip.ust read your whole TR so far.
Ha. I did that the other night. I was SERIOUSLY starving the other night...I shouldn't have read it while I'm so hungry--that 'Ohana update did me in!!! Now I am in the mood for tropical drinks poolside and lots of pot stickers!!
Happy Saturday! Which appears to be my version of your SundayHi Everyone!
Happy Sunday! We are being lazy this morning, everyone is sitting in the living room with their iPads watching items of choice. (ESPN for DH, 2 different episodes of Liz & Maddie for the girls) That leaves me to hopefully write something on here!
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! So excited for you all. Are you going to surprise the girls again?We are going back to Disney in FEBRUARY!!! Woo Hoo! If you you didn't follow my PTR, the original plan was to have both this Sept trip and the Feb trip. And then we started rethinking the vacation budget and Feb became on the chopping block. But we talked about it and decided to do this Feb trip on the "cheap" No dinning plan, mostly counter service meals, a moderate hotel, no special parties... Which I am totally fine with because we will be in DISNEY!
We stayed at French Quarter once a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I loved the smallness and compact nature of the resort and Casey loved the pool. The boat to Disney Springs was also a great perk. Plus, beignetsWe booked a room only reservation at Port Orleans French Quarter! I am actually excited about this. I waited to see what the discounts would be from Disney and thought we would do Riverside if we could get a good discount, as French Quarter isn't usually included. But it came out and it was only for the Royal Rooms at Riverside and was still higher than a regular room at French Quarter. So, I just went with that! I did get a letter in the mail that they are doing some renovations at French Quarter when we will be there. Does anyone know how much they are doing? Anyone stay there? Did you guys like it?
We do b/c well, 3 and 6 yr old, right? But he doesn't come around til Thanksgiving, when we do all our Christmas decorating.Does anyone else have an elf on the shelf at there house?!?
(I may or may not of had R2-D2 Under-Roos) And I am guessing some of you folks don't know what under-roos are/were.
Coming up a full review of the Fantasmic VIP Expierence. Was it worth it? Did we like it?