She's Five at Riverside - A September 2014 Trip Report (Completed 2/27)

Thanks so much for sharing your trip report with us! It was so fun to hear about your family's adventures and Allie's birthday. :goodvibes

Thanks also for sharing that you can get mug refills from many resorts - I may use that tip next time! :thumbsup2
 
Enjoyed reading your trip report. Thanks for sharing. We are headed to POR in 3 weeks. It will be our 5th time there. Our first trip we stayed at FW in a cabin. We didn't care for the hop on a bus to catch another, lots of work with a child that has special needs. We do love TE tho! Your daughter is beautiful and I love the special memories she will have of this trip with her grandparents.
 
All caught up.

The picture of Allie and Duffy is priceless!

The food pictures from food and wine festival look so good.

JoDee Messina...I miss her. I saw her in a little mini concert before she had a hit. Glad you all enjoyed the concert.

Bummer about the confusion on airline check in, but glad they figured it all out.

I adore the photo of Melissa and Allie on the bridge, great photo.

Great way to get Allie's energy out before the long flight. That is the one thing I am dreading for our trip, two kids on a flight for 6 hours. The 2 1/2 hour flight to California was bad enough...eek.

Questions for you guys...How do you all deal with the time difference? Does it bother you much? What about eating times? I've only been to DL where the time was the same so I don't know if there is anything I should know or be prepared for or if it's not really a big deal.
 


I loved your report. You did such a nice job with everything, it was great! I'm glad you had such a wonderful trip.
 
That's great you got to have a night visit at Disneyland, how lucky!

Great trip report, thanks for sharing with us ;)
You are most welcome. We do feel lucky to have DL at "home".

Thanks so much for sharing your trip report with us! It was so fun to hear about your family's adventures and Allie's birthday. :goodvibes

Thanks also for sharing that you can get mug refills from many resorts - I may use that tip next time! :thumbsup2
You are welcome. Thanks for following along and we're glad you enjoyed it.

One great thing about the RFID mugs is that it is now officially ok to take them with you to other resorts, and we love seeing other WDW resorts.

Enjoyed reading your trip report. Thanks for sharing. We are headed to POR in 3 weeks. It will be our 5th time there. Our first trip we stayed at FW in a cabin. We didn't care for the hop on a bus to catch another, lots of work with a child that has special needs. We do love TE tho! Your daughter is beautiful and I love the special memories she will have of this trip with her grandparents.
You're welcome. It is fun to have a record of the trip all together in one place.

That's great you enjoy POR so much. We really enjoyed it too. At least TE is just a boat ride away from MK... Mmmmm

Thanks so much, we all had a great time and have wonderful memories of the trip.

All caught up.

The picture of Allie and Duffy is priceless!

The food pictures from food and wine festival look so good.

JoDee Messina...I miss her. I saw her in a little mini concert before she had a hit. Glad you all enjoyed the concert.

Bummer about the confusion on airline check in, but glad they figured it all out.

I adore the photo of Melissa and Allie on the bridge, great photo.

Great way to get Allie's energy out before the long flight. That is the one thing I am dreading for our trip, two kids on a flight for 6 hours. The 2 1/2 hour flight to California was bad enough...eek.

Questions for you guys...How do you all deal with the time difference? Does it bother you much? What about eating times? I've only been to DL where the time was the same so I don't know if there is anything I should know or be prepared for or if it's not really a big deal.

Thanks for following, and we are glad you are all caught up. The concerts were great,and fit in the trip so well.

We really enjoy having a stop on our flight almost exactly half way. That breaks it up into two three hour flights, and with Jet Blue it is actually a continuation of the same flight on the same plane, so we don't have to worry about being late for a connecting flight.

As for the time change, we don't have too much trouble with it, but that's because we are flexible with our schedule at WDW. We can always eat when we are hungry. In general we stay up later there and don't get up super early, so we didn't schedule too many early ADRs, and we tried to schedule the ones we did do for later in the trip. Going back home we wind up being super tired, but that's because we played so hard for 10 days.

I loved your report. You did such a nice job with everything, it was great! I'm glad you had such a wonderful trip.
Thank you so much. We are glad that you enjoyed it. We did have a great time and really enjoy reliving it through the trip report.
 
Now that we've been through our whole trip I thought we'd wrap it up by going over the highlights and summarizing what we thought about the things that were new for us this time. Besides, I found some more pictures, and this gives us a place to use them.

It's sad when Disney trips are over and we've been talking alot about this trip and what our next trip is going to be like so we thought we'd share with all of our friends.

Probably the biggest new and unique thing about this trip for us was the resort.


While we had visited POR on each of our other trips, it was our first time staying here, and it worked out to be great.


With the preferred room location we were every bit as close to the QS food location (and mug refills) as we would have been at WL. We loved the grounds, and the quiet spread out feel of the Alligator Bayou room buildings.


I really liked the resort and really liked the value. One of our big concerns was not having closed hallways for rain. After having experinced some torrential downpour we realized it wasn't a big deal.

While it was definitely not as convenient as having a covered walk to the buses, it wasn't bad. On non rainy days it was a really pretty walk. Another thing I worried about was the inside of the room. I had read about a lack of space there and thought it might feel cramped with the different room layout. This was totally not the case, and we both actually enjoyed the inside of this room every bit as much as our rooms at WL.




The biggest difference I saw was the amount of drawer space but we brought the hanging organizers so there was lots of room for us to unpack into, this was probably the most organized our room has been out of any trip.


While we didn't use the Murphy Bed (I think we only put it down once) having the bench was convenient and we used it as a place to put our park backpack and whatever goodies we brought back to the room. Having the corner room was a treat too, and meant there were windows on two walls, which made it seem even bigger.

Since we had connecting rooms we didn't utilize the space in front of that door for storage but there is quite a bit of space there to stack suitcases or park a stroller if you needed.


We managed ok though and just stuck the suitcases between the bed and the wall.

The Bus service was another potential issue with the resort, and we found it to be fine. Yes, there are four separate bus stops within the resort, but the order of the stops is the same going to and coming from a given park, so in one round trip you generally only have to visit each bus stop once. Another super neat thing is they have the bus wait time screen at the main bus stop, which we found to be quite accurate and very nice to aleviate frustration when you see multiple buses come before yours.


We did have a few times where we were not able to get on the first bus that arrived because of crowds, and this is worse at peak times, but when it happened we knew how long we'd have to wait for another one and it usually wasn't long.

Waiting for the second bus was probably the most frustrating thing especially when you have an ADR to get to but we planned well and didn't have too much trouble.

I did miss the lazy boatrides to and from the Magic Kingdom to Wilderness Lodge. I think we made up for it with the boat to DTD though.


Yes, we knew we'd miss the boats on Bay Lake, and we did, but the bigger difference was just being longer away from MK. We see the close proximity to MK as one of the major advantages of WL. It is nice to have options for how to hop back over to the resort, whether it is on aboat from MK, a quick bus, or a boat from CR.
Going to DTD was great though, and we finally felt like we got to do it as much as we wanted this trip, which we probably wouldn't have gotten to if we had to deal with a long bus ride to get there.

I feel like we finally checked everything off of our list this time too, so while I'd love to go back soon I'm content at having hit everything we wanted to and am ok catching up on other financial obligations (like the new boat we'll be using at the lake this summer) before we plan another trip.

Yeah, that's one of the nice things about going three years in a row, we didn't feel like we had to see everything, so we really got to emphasize the stuff that we wanted to because we felt familiar with the rest. We're looking forward to going back though, and are always making notes of what we enjoyed most and would definitely want to do again.

Speaking of which, as part of the wrap up we thought we'd go through some of our favorite things about this trip. Since the meals are a huge part of the fun for us, we can start there and mention our favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner of the trip. SInce it is tough to compare TS and QS restaurants, we might mention one of each...

I think my favorite breakfast was Crystal Palace. There is something special about getting to the park before it opens and the rain didn't take away anything.


I totally agree, and this is just a really nice place to eat. Despite being a buffet, there are lots of great options and the made to order omelets are excellent. It is a festive atmosphere and just seems special. It was our only TS breakfast this time, but one we wouldn't want to miss. On the QS side we really enjoyed the Mill at POR, and by the end of the trip finally figured out what we liked best and which station to get it from.

Lunch is a much tougher comparison. We had great TS lunches in 3 parks and loved all of them, but the best overall was probably Yak and Yeti. The food was great, the service was exceptional, and it was a nice cool spot to take a break in the middle of a hot day at AK.

Wait a second I had said my favorite was Yak and Yeti but you said you liked Liberty Tree more. Or am I misremembering?

I knew it would be close between those two. The food at both was great, and they were both nice cool spots to take a break from parks during hot days. I do think Yak and Yeti wins based on the service and uniqueness of the food though.

We were talking about our favorite lunch of the trip and while the TS lunches were all wonderful the lunch they were predictibly delicious. The lunch that was the biggest surprise for me and the one I think about when I think lunch is our sunshine seasons lunch. I got a Quinoa salad that was amazing, I would love to take that to lunch everyday.

I am more of a burger guy, and the Pimento bacon cheeseburger was my QS lunch of the trip, and beat the Grand Gaspy burger at the GF hands down.

Dinner is tough too, because we enjoyed everything we ate. If I had to pick one favorite though I keep going back to Boatwrights. The atmosphere was perfect for the day, the food was great and the desserts were amazing. Akershus and BOG had great food as well, but Boatwrights was as good, and less expected.


I enjoyed Boatwrights the most hands down. The others were great but the food at Boatwrights was amazing, the service was perfect, and everything came together there to make it a perfect dinner.

I totally agree, and we hadn't really discussed that before now. Yes, I am so glad I listened to my wife and added it to the agenda.

On the QS side, our old favorite at DTD still shined: The meatloaf sandwich at WPE. It really is an amazing value in a QS meal, since they bring it to your table and it wouldn't be cheap OOP.

I would have to agree with WPE. I am not as big a fan of the Meatloaf as Paul but I really enjoy their pasta dishes.

I guess the wrap up wouldn't be complete without mentioning our Food and Wine snacks, since that was something totally new for us this trip.


We really enjoyed it, and everything we tried was good. My favorite was the Pulled Pork slider, but the Empanada was really good too.

My favorite was the empanada, so yummy.

We did fail at our goal of trying something gross, but that's ok.

I had the goal of eating something terrible and we just couldn't find anything nasty. In all honesty we didn't try very hard though.

And that's ok with me. :)

The trip wasn't only about food though, and there were some other new things we tried this time that will become traditions. The first one I can think of is the face painting.




We might have created a bit of a monster here, because Allie absolutely loves it.

Yes, she does, we haven't had it done yet at Disneyland but I see that changing.

Along those lines another really fun thing that we did this time again was BBB.




She did it last year too, but it was a really fun thing for everybody to watch. It is totally worth the cost, just from a "creating Disney magic" perspective. (And that's coming from a guy who questioned whether it was worth spending that much on a hair style...)

She loved having pink hair this year and the hairstyle stayed nice for two days. I think she really enjoyed it more this year than last because she knew what to expect and is way more into how she looks this year when compared to last.


Yeah, I think this was a perfect age to do it, and having done it before she had no fear about it, she knew it would be fun.

I think we should plan on it for next trip too. It's become a must do for her I think.


Yep, so we've gotta do the next trip before she's too old for it, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Looking through the pictures, another fun thing that we finally made it to was Country Bear Jamboree. We don't have this in CA anymore, and we both remember it as kids.


I think Allie enjoyed it, and it is something we have wanted to do for years.

It was cute and brought back fond memories.

Looking back on the trip there really wasn't anything we had planned on doing but didn't get to. The closest thing would probably be returning to Animal Kingdom for part of a second day, which we usually do and enjoy, but we accomplished what we wanted to during our full day there and never made it back.

I was disappointed we didn't make it to WPE for breakfast. It was something I was looking forward to, but we just didn't get going early enough that day to make it there.

Ahh yeah, and that was the same day we had planned to return to AK. Oh well, there's always next time, and by that point sleeping in was nice and we didn't want to rush for anything.

No, that's where the vacation part kicks in. We don't want to be so sleep deprived we can't stand each other. Rest is very important.

Yeah, and despite all that we did fit in and usually staying up until midnight we were all generally cheerful, and didn't have any major meltdowns.

So, I think that about wraps it up. We had a great time, from planning the trip to going on it to reliving it here and of course by sharing a bunch of pictures.

We can't wait to go back. When we do have a trip planned we'll be sure to pop back in here and fill you in on the details hopefully with a PTR.


Thank you all for joining in with us, and until next time we'll see you on the DIS.
 


Aw, it was so much fun reading your TR. I really want to reunite you with big Stitch somehow. I love your WL shirt on the last day. I just visited that resort for the first time recently & I love that Humphrey the bear is in it!
 
Really enjoyed your trip report and appreciate all the time and effort it must have taken to write! Thank you!!! :-)
 
Thank you again for sharing your trip with us, I really enjoyed following along. Until next time :wave:
 
I always love reading the wrap-up posts! :yay:

We'll be staying at POR for the largest chunk of our May/June trip, and I'm even more excited about it given your great experience at the resort.

I look forward to your PTR and your future trips! Thanks again for sharing your trip and your final thoughts! :D
 
Aw, it was so much fun reading your TR. I really want to reunite you with big Stitch somehow. I love your WL shirt on the last day. I just visited that resort for the first time recently & I love that Humphrey the bear is in it!
I'm sure we will wind up with a Giant Stitch at some point. It is kind of fun not knowing when it will show up, but I can definitely see bringing one home from a DL trip when one happens to show up at our World of Disney.

We are big fans of WL, so that's why staying somewhere else was a big deal this time. It worked out great though, and we all enjoyed stopping by WL to visit and spend a little time in the lobby.

Thank you for sharing your lovely trip with us :goodvibes
Aww, thank you for following along.

Really enjoyed your trip report and appreciate all the time and effort it must have taken to write! Thank you!!! :-)
We're so glad you enjoyed it. It makes the time putting it together worth it, although we really like having it all summed up in one place too. Thank you for following and commenting.

Thank you again for sharing your trip with us, I really enjoyed following along. Until next time :wave:
You are most welcome. Thanks for joining in, and we'll hope to hear from you once we start planning our return trip.
I always love reading the wrap-up posts! :yay:

We'll be staying at POR for the largest chunk of our May/June trip, and I'm even more excited about it given your great experience at the resort.

I look forward to your PTR and your future trips! Thanks again for sharing your trip and your final thoughts! :D
Yeah, it is fun to look back and sum up the trip in one post. Your trip to POR should be great, and we'll be looking to read about it. Thank you for following along and participating.
 
I enjoyed your report so much, thanks for sharing it and the wrap up was great!
 
Great trip report! POR is one of my favorite resorts but I haven't been there in years, so it was nice to see it again. Happy Birthday to Allie!
 
Man, I can't believe its over already. So cool you all got to start the day at DW and end at DL, I don't think that is a feat that many get to enjoy. Thanks for letting us follow along and live vicariously through your family. Hope we see a PTR pop up real soon ; )
 
The Bus service was another potential issue with the resort, and we found it to be fine. Yes, there are four separate bus stops within the resort, but the order of the stops is the same going to and coming from a given park, so in one round trip you generally only have to visit each bus stop once. Another super neat thing is they have the bus wait time screen at the main bus stop, which we found to be quite accurate and very nice to alleviate frustration when you see multiple buses come before yours.
The OKW bus was annoying because the bus doesn't travel a circular route. It has to turn around at each stop, making the trip seem to last forever. It was really the only thing we didn't like about that resort.
We did have a few times where we were not able to get on the first bus that arrived because of crowds, and this is worse at peak times, but when it happened we knew how long we'd have to wait for another one and it usually wasn't long.

Waiting for the second bus was probably the most frustrating thing especially when you have an ADR to get to but we planned well and didn't have too much trouble.

I did miss the lazy boatrides to and from the Magic Kingdom to Wilderness Lodge. I think we made up for it with the boat to DTD though.
I think having to wait for a second bus would be the most annoying thing about a moderate or value resort. The boat to DTD would be great, though. :)

So, I think that about wraps it up. We had a great time, from planning the trip to going on it to reliving it here and of course by sharing a bunch of pictures.

We can't wait to go back. When we do have a trip planned we'll be sure to pop back in here and fill you in on the details hopefully with a PTR.
Your trip reports were always fun to read. I hope you can plan another trip soon. :)

We are big fans of WL, so that's why staying somewhere else was a big deal this time. It worked out great though, and we all enjoyed stopping by WL to visit and spend a little time in the lobby.
We love to visit the WL when we are staying at a different resort. We really like that resort. :)
 
I enjoyed your report so much, thanks for sharing it and the wrap up was great!
Thank you, we're glad you enjoyed it and we sure had fun writing it.

Great trip report! POR is one of my favorite resorts but I haven't been there in years, so it was nice to see it again. Happy Birthday to Allie!
Thanks! We're glad you enjoyed following along and took the chance to say hello and Happy Birthday. Allie is almost five and a half now, and is already talking about what to do for her SIXTH birthday.

Man, I can't believe its over already. So cool you all got to start the day at DW and end at DL, I don't think that is a feat that many get to enjoy. Thanks for letting us follow along and live vicariously through your family. Hope we see a PTR pop up real soon ; )
Yeah, even though it took so long to write it still feels like the trip went by quickly. Oh well, I guess that's just how WDW is. Time really does fly. We're glad that you enjoyed following along, and we'll start a PTR when we have plans for another trip, but it'll be a bit.

The OKW bus was annoying because the bus doesn't travel a circular route. It has to turn around at each stop, making the trip seem to last forever. It was really the only thing we didn't like about that resort.
I think having to wait for a second bus would be the most annoying thing about a moderate or value resort. The boat to DTD would be great, though. :)
Yeah, overall we found the transportation times to be very comparable to WL, since we didn't have to stop at any other resort after the four bus stops. Fortunately there weren't too many times with full buses, but it does happen more there. We never wound up taking the bus to DTD because we enjoyed the boat so much. :)

Your trip reports were always fun to read. I hope you can plan another trip soon. :)
Thanks, we are glad that you've enjoyed them. It is fun sharing WDW trips with others, and is something WDW related that we can do from home. Thank you for contributing and always following along.

We love to visit the WL when we are staying at a different resort. We really like that resort. :)
Yes so do we! It is "home" at WDW, even if we are staying somewhere else. :) Many of the things we liked best about POR were things it has in common with WL.
 
I completely missed your summary installment since I didn't receive an email notice for it:sad2:. I really enjoyed how you "walk" us through the resort, one final time and cover the highlights of your trip. I just love the photo of the horses in the port cochere with the wet pavement and of course, the BBB transformation - wonderful! But, I miss you guys already:(, and I can't wait to hear about your next trip... happy planning and have a great time at DLR;)
 
I completely missed your summary installment since I didn't receive an email notice for it:sad2:. I really enjoyed how you "walk" us through the resort, one final time and cover the highlights of your trip. I just love the photo of the horses in the port cochere with the wet pavement and of course, the BBB transformation - wonderful! But, I miss you guys already:(, and I can't wait to hear about your next trip... happy planning and have a great time at DLR;)
Aww thanks so much. It is weird how the notifications are intermittent. I do get them sometimes, but often do not (hence the late reply).

Anyway, we are glad you enjoyed it and we have one more update to post, so it's not quite over yet.
 

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