The “Hurt So Good” TR or How You Can Feel Bad and Still Feel Good - UPDATED 10/17 COMPLETE!! About This Page:

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The “Hurt So Good” TR or How You Can Feel Bad and Still Feel Good.
For a peek at the Pre trip report... The Disney Remix/Kiss PTR
“Hurt so good,
C’mon baby make it hurt so good,
Sometimes Disney don’t feel like it should,
You make it,,, hurt so good.”

My apologies to John Mellencamp for messing with his lyrics, but this song seemed to be running through my head each day of our vacation. I contemplated several names for this trip report (“The Disney Bootie Shoot” – you’ll understand why when you see some of our photos or the “My Life as the Seven Dwarfs” because I took turns being each one during this trip. ) But the above just seems to describe what I experienced each day better than anything. In fact, I can recount the trip by what injury/illness I was suffering from each day! In spite of it all, this was the most amazing and awesomely, magical visit to WDW than I could have dreamed of!

So let’s count down the days, shall we, with the first ‘not-feel-so-good’ experience…

~The (sniff) Cold~

We’ve never started off a vacation with most of us being sick … many of you might remember that just a week before we were scheduled to leave, Cory came down with a bad case of the sniffles. She actually took a day off and lay in bed all day and by the following morning was feeling back to normal, albeit with a very sniffly nose. I was terrified the rest of us would come down with whatever she had, and my fears manifest themselves as a few days later, Kelley woke up with a sore throat. That evening, I couldn’t deny it any longer – I wasn’t feeling good, either.

Rats! Who wants to start off a long-awaited trip to WDW by feeling terrible? I had a difficult time even finishing our last-minute trip preparations and never had the energy to give the house a quick clean before we left. By the time Friday rolled around, I wised-up and realized I needed to follow my own advice and hit this URI with all the natural remedies I always recommend for others – I took mega-doses of vitamin C, minerals and zinc, Echinacea and lots of water. By Saturday morning, I was beginning to feel better – enough to generate some enthusiasm for our upcoming departure. Kelley (thankfully!) seemed to get over the worst of it as quickly as her sister did, and just had the same extremely stuffy nose.

Kevin felt great, however – and together, we all took our dog Duncan to boarding and then over to have an oil change for the van. I decided Kevin needed to go with me for the oil change, as I am not ‘car-literate’ enough to know if something really needs to be done or if the techs are just trying to sell me something! I was thinking of Meggera (Laura) and her adventures with having a dead battery just as she was ready to leave…and lo and behold, the oil change tech told us our battery was testing low and she’d ‘suggest’ replacing it!

Had I been there alone, I probably would have panicked and purchased one, but Kevin told them we’d take care of it later.

The girls and I had already packed our bags the day before, and decided to take our showers that evening so we could be out the door and on the road by 6:00am. But even though the alarm went off at five, we didn’t actually leave the house until 7:00am – Kevin had ‘last-minute’ packing to do…and needed a cup of coffee…and decided to check his e-mail….Rrrrr! I do have to take some of the blame, as this time I had to make sure we had all necessary medication in case anyone got worse while we were away and to keep treating myself while we were there.

Our drive down to Orlando was fairly uneventful. The nice thing about driving from TN is all the beautiful scenery, particularly between Nashville and Atlanta. Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga is especially pretty in the early morning, crowned with low clouds and all misty and magical.

Atlanta was a quick drive-thru as long as you stay in the HOV lanes all the way to the end. We stopped for sandwiches at a Subway (we brought our own chips, snacks and drinks) and we were on our way again, along the pine forests of Georgia, past the peach and pecan orchards, and watching for the mileage signs that say “Lake City” so you know Florida is coming up. And then it’s across the Suwannee River, past Gainesville, Ocala and then you know the Florida Turnpike will be next!!! Yay!!!

As we approached our exit to the Turnpike, we noticed a huge bank of dark storm clouds on the horizon. “Is that over Orlando?” Kevin asked. Yep – it was. And that was not good news, as half the reason I wanted to arrive at the resort early was so we could do DTD that evening. Those clouds looked like they might put a damper on my plans.

We went through some heavy rains on the way in (and Kelley had a bit of a nosebleed with the change in pressure, but handled it nicely.) We even had another rainbow welcoming us as we approached Disney property – just like our first trip! By the time we could see that wonderful arch that lets you know you’re home once again, the rain had stopped and we were soon pulling up to Port Orleans Riverside.


I love POR – it feels welcoming and relaxing. We were so happy to get out of the van after exactly 10 hrs. of being on the road.



I had used the online check-in 10 days out from our arrival date, and was anxious to see how it would work. Inside the lobby, we found signs directing us to the Online Check-in counter where CM Roberto from Costa Rica was ready to greet us. I showed him my photo ID and he located our documents, all ready to go.

But our first challenge was ahead of us. Roberto got out the resort map to show us where our room was located, pointing out our location at the Mansions at Magnolia Bend ; I stopped him and explained that we had requested Alligator Bayou as we wanted to stay in the same section we had previously. Cory’s face was already registering her dismay and I was preparing for a complete melt-down on her part. Roberto was very understanding, and we waited while he went to check and see if they could move us.

In the meantime, Kevin and I talked to Cory. “Hey, we’ve never stayed at the Mansions – how about we try something new this time? It might be fun…You might discover you really like it…and Roberto said it’s really much closer to the big pool and a bus stop…what do you think?” Cory’s eyes were already filled with tears (if she has her heart set on something, it’s really hard for her to change.) But she suddenly took a big swallow and said, “Okay, I don’t care - let’s try it this time.” I was so proud of her!!!!

When Roberto got back, we told him we’d go ahead and stay at the Mansions – but he had already moved us to Alligator Bayou! Not a problem, he went back and switched us again to our original location and told us if we didn’t like it, he would make sure we found a suitable room, and showed us a few other locations around the resort that we could try. I apologized for causing so much trouble, but he assured me it was no trouble at all. (We gave him a CM Appreciation card.)

With check-in accomplished, the plan was to go and get a bite to eat at Downtown Disney and look for a t-shirt for me to wear to MK tomorrow. I had previously purchased a cute Mickey Mouse tee from our local Disney Store – but decided I needed a different size. By the time I took it back, they were out of those particular shirts, so I thought I’d just buy something when we got to WDW – and I did not pack an extra shirt, so I really needed to get something.

But as we turned away from the check-in desk, we saw a wall of water coming down outside the windows! It was absolutely pouring rain! Our alternative was to head over to Fulton’s General Store; the girls needed lanyards for their pins and maybe I could find a tee that I liked. Kelley and Cory each chose a Tinkerbell lanyard (each a different design I tried on a few tees but none of them were exactly what I was looking for. Sigh. That meant I would have to switch outfits tomorrow and try and find a shirt when we got to MK.

The rain stopped, and we needed to move our car and find our room. Our room was located at Acadian House – just across the Sassagoula River and not far from Ol’ Man Island swimming pool, and from there just a short walk to the Main Building. We also had a bus stop nearby (it took 2.5 minutes to walk there – I timed it!)

The look and feel of the Mansions is a lot different than Alligator Bayou. The designers of Port Orleans French Quarter/Riverside wanted the look and feel of the architecture to reflect the transition from city to country life – so that you move from the colorful vibrancy of New Orleans to the stately manor life of the plantation, and then to the rustic cabins along the bayous and backwaters of Louisiana.

Acadian House was a beautiful white-columned manor, complete with a graceful fountain and lush landscaping.






Inside, we found more elegant furnishings – and a Mickey towel on the bed!






As soon as we toted in the luggage and supplies, we realized how late it was and how hungry we were. The sky looked pretty threatening again, so we decided against taking the boat to DTD and opted to eat at Riverside Mill food court.

I love this big, open-air mill setting – and all of us headed for the carving board for roast beef, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables and cornbread….everyone except Kelley who decided on a personal pizza instead. Kelley was especially excited this trip to be old enough for the adult dining plan and all the great choices she could make. Cory was still on the kids’ plan and wasn’t too pleased – but I promised to share a lot of my good stuff with her.

We had a great time at the food court; laughing, talking, spilling things and just generally being slap-happy from finally being at WDW! But it was getting late and we had a very early morning planned. Back to Acadian house we hiked, enjoying the warm evening breeze and the splashing of the families in the pool as we passed by. And when we got back to our room, I realized that I was feeling much, much better. I didn’t even feel like I had a cold at all! It must have been that Disney Magic at work already.

The girls got their trading pins on their lanyards, everyone laid out their clothes for the next day and we hopped into bed. But no one slept well that evening – we were too anxious to step under the train station arch and catch our first glimpse of the Castle in the morning…

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