2/24-3/2 POR Riverside Trip Report- Mom and Two Girls from NH
About This Page:

DLinNH · 04-02-2011, 10:45 PM

Welcome to my first trip report! I wanted to type it all at once and post it, instead of doing it in installments, but I found that it may be too ambitious. I have been reading other trip reports for years and always thought I would like to do that too. Hope you enjoy it!

Cast of Characters:
Me (Diane age 44 and mom to three girls); DD1 age 16; DD2 age 11; and
DD3 (age 20 and in college – she was not able to join us)

Setting the Scene:
Travel: 2/24/11 – 3/2/11
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside Waterview room (Mansion section requested)
Airline: JetBlue from Boston
Free Dining Plan

First Things First
I have been going to WDW since the Blizzard of 78’. That was the trip when my father loaded my brother and I (and mom) into his car at 3AM, the day after the great blizzard finally ended and we shoveled out (sorta shoveled). We sped (crawled actually) away, like thieves in the night, on roads that were banned to civilian automobiles due to the Blizzard (now if you’re from New England, you get it when I use the word “banned”). We were stopped a couple of times along the way out of Massachusetts by the National Guard! My dad had a story each time we were stopped and they let us through. I don’t remember exactly what he said to them, but I remember being a bit scared and excited at the same time! Needless to say I have been hooked ever since. Thanks Dad for starting my love of Disney – this report is in your memory…. Anyway, I honeymooned at the Poly in 1987, stayed at The Grand Floridian the first year it opened and found myself at many other resorts at various times after that. However, as I age, I realize there is so much more to the World than rushing from ride to ride. Unless you “get it” you won’t know what I mean. Now everyone reading this trip report “gets it” – why else would you be reading, right?

Fast forward to how this trip came to life. Well, the last trip was in 2006 with all three of my girls and a now ex-husband. The divorce was hard on the kids (and me) and I wanted to start making my own vacation memories with them – so I just went for it and planned this trip. Free dining was all over the web last summer and I bit the bullet and jumped in with both feet (and no life jacket). How I was going to pay for this was another matter, but I knew I would figure it all out – somehow. My oldest daughter would be away at college (her vacations do not line up with ours) so I had the gruesome task of telling her we were going without her. G.R.U.E.S.O.M.E.

I should also point out that I was not taking my significant other with us too. That would be Tom – and yes I had the task of telling him too. Let’s just say I was not very popular with a couple of folks for a while. Oh well, can’t please everyone in life.

What started as surfing on the net and daydreaming about wanting so badly to go to WDW again, turned into calling WDW to make reservations. Did I just dial that number? Yup Diane you sure did! And now you need to purchase three roundtrip airline tickets. I feverishly searched for deals for our dates – I had little wiggle room with regard to this because free dining began on 2/25…BUT… a good JetBlue deal was departing on 2/24. Think fast…what to do?? Oh yea, make a room only reservation and have it linked to my package deal that starts on the 25th. That should be easy, right? It’s not like we’re changing hotels or anything – this shouldn’t get messed up. Or does it?? Ok so airfare done – check; Room only for 2/24 done – check; DME reserved – check. Package with free dining done – check. Now I can just sit back and wait to make ADRS..

With that task out of the way, the planning could begin! At 180 days out, I called right up and made us some ADRS. I must admit, planning your meals can be a bit stressful, with figuring where one will be at a given time on a given day and all. It really does take careful thought and consideration.

Here’s what I had planned: San Angel Inn (not my idea); Kona Café; Boma; Crystal Palace; 50’s Prime Time. I also booked LeCellier for the same night I booked San Angel, just in case DD1 would cave and want to go to LeCellier. She loved the atmosphere of Mexico when we were there in 2006, so I caved and let her have her way (which we all regretted btw – but I’m jumping ahead in the story).

DEPARTURE DAY – a/k/a Teens Fly in Groups!
Thursday morning we were up early. We had to leave for Logan Airport by 5:00am. We have a 7:40am flight – non-stop on JetBlue. The last time we flew, there weren’t any body scanners to deal with and I must admit I was a bit uncomfortable with it all. I’m also not a big fan of driving to Logan and figuring out its logistics. I was, after all, flying/travelling for the first time without another adult to help navigate the waters. I was the solo adult in charge of the kids, in an airport, managing luggage, checking into a hotel, etc. etc. etc. Experiencing a bit of anxiety I was.

So after packing for three people, or should I say over packing for three people and planning for every contingency I could think of (my medical/toiletry bag would make any nurse proud), we were off to the airport. Boy was it cold! Our winter this year was tough! The snow banks were so high you couldn’t see into the street from your front window of your house! That’s mighty high. You know you are in for a long winter when you can’t find your mailbox. I would be so happy to see greenery and a palm tree, I couldn’t contain myself. But to be fair, I was leaving Tom behind in the snow and Steph in school, so I hid my excitement – a bit… DD2 could not hide her happiness – she was skipping out the door. My kids do not get “a lot” of things, let alone vacations, so this was a BIG deal for them. That made all the debt I was incurring to be worth it.

Driving to Logan in the wee hours was a piece of cake (because I was at the wheel). We left Tom curbside, said our goodbyes and I shuffled my crew and luggage and carryons inside. Now I had my boarding passes in hand, but still had to wait in a very long line to check luggage. Was this indicative of long lines to come I wondered? After we waited and waited and waited in line to check our very large and heavy bags we were off to find our gate. Hmmm. Wasn’t it down to the left? That’s what the darn sign said. Now my kids are looking at me and in their minds they are saying…mom don’t you know where you are going? I’m saying…where are we going? I decided to go to the right, past the long JetBlue line again. Where the heck am I going??? Of course there wasn’t anyone there to ask. Now I have lived in the Boston area my whole life and now reside in southern New Hampshire, and I must say, folks aren’t that friendly here. Don’t get me wrong, there are some friendly folks, just not that many. Maybe it is our dreadful winters. All I am thinking is that I can’t wait to be in my happy place. Finally, I see a little make shift sign that says JetBlue Gates this way. Now, one would wonder why the guy that took my bags wouldn’t have told me that. I mean it was clear I was a single chick travelling with two kids with this look on my face like I was a bit out of my element. But no! No one told me.

We made it to security check point. Where were the body scanners? I couldn’t see them. Does this mean we don’t have to go through? YUP! Score..things were looking up. We made it to our gate and found seats as not too many people were there yet. This is gonna be ok after all, I told myself. I can totally travel with the kids by myself. At this point, I got us some breakfast foods and drinks and settled in until it was time to board. Bagels with cream cheese, two juices and my iced coffee (oh yea, I forgot to mention I can’t live without good coffee). Seriously, I cant. I brought some good grounds with me in my suitcase, along with filters and a coffee measuring spoon, so I could have my liquid gold each morning, because everyone knows Disney coffee ain’t so good!. Making it every night and chilling it in our in-room fridge became a comforting ritual for me throughout our vacation.

Back to the airport scene…..My girls are now connected to some device or another at this point and I’m just sitting there nibbling my bagel and sipping my coffee, just taking it all in and finally starting to relax, as the first part of the traveling adventure is behind me (driving to Logan and security I mean), when I notice some adults, that seem out of place, like they are looking for someone. Hmmm…I keep drinking and noticing. Are they holding up signs that say ____________ High School?? Now all of a sudden are there so many teenagers starting to arrive? Sip Sip, Nibble Nibble – more teens. Wow, now there are a lot of them sitting on the floor, in every single available chair and on each other. I start to do a headcount. I wonder, are they ALL going to be on our flight? YUP! Now don’t get me wrong, I really like teens, because you see, I work with them. EVERYDAY! That’s right, I work in a high school guidance department! But this morning I didn’t want to be surrounded by them or listen to them for the whole flight. Is that mean to say? This is my long awaited vacation and I didn’t want to be bumped from our flight. I decided to spring into action and move my brood to the front of the line. So I collect our belongings and tell my kids to move it! We are going to the gate door and wait. DD1 says why are we moving? I give her the look that says, don’t ask just do it and fast.

We wait by the gate and they finally start the calls to load the plane. I’m thinking they can’t possibly fit all of us on that plane. I ask some kids…hey where are you staying in Orlando? I am holding my breath for the answer …(please don’t say Riverside). I get the response I wanted….”Pop”! thank goodness.

It’s finally our turn to board, I instruct my girls on our plan of attack with regard to storing our overhead bags and such. As we creep through the first few rows of seats I start to eye where our “RESERVED” seats are. Now my eyesight seems to be getting worse with age, but are those three girls in our seats? As I approach I am now a bit pissed, I simply say…you’re in our seats…” they look at each other and say I guess we have to find others and they move towards the back of the plane. I think, I don’t care if you have to find seats on another plane, get out of mine. I am annoyed, but I try to make the best of it. Did I mention they are all part of a band/chorus team that was selected to go to WDW to perform. Under other circumstances, I would be thrilled for kids to be able to do that, but not on my vacation on my plane. LOL.. They started singing – a lot! And the stewardess announces that we have a full plane and that we have ____________ High School travelling with us! They all start screaming and I just want a drink!

Thank God for Jet Blue TV’s and earphones – that is all I have to say. The flight was uneventful pretty much after that, except for….”what is that smell”? DD1 whispers, “mom do you smell that”? Body Odor! YUP and it was B.A.D. I think the kid in front of us forgot to put on his deodorant. Seriously? Get me off the plane.

Now we are nearing the end of our flight and as we start our decent, DD2 (who just started getting over a cold) announces that her ear hurts – bad! I tell her it will pass. Does DD2 look very pale? I try to put that out of mind. Does DD2 feel rather warm? I try to put that out of my mind too.

We land in Orlando temperature is about 80degrees! YES!!!…I am not going home I decided. Finding our way to DME was just fine – MCO is very well organized and pleasant. What a nice experience it is to go through that airport. My first glimpse of palms trees was pure bliss for this snow-shocked, over worked woman. The smile stayed on my face for the rest of the trip. Well, for most of it…..

Up Next – Arriving at Riverside

**chezp** · 04-03-2011, 02:26 AM

Great start, but oh my goodness, what a flight!

DLinNH · 04-03-2011, 09:10 AM

Now on to the good stuff! DME experience was quite nice and very efficient! The weather was so warm and sunny (you'll notice I refer to the weather quite a bit in this report) I couldn't wait to unload our stuff and drink it all in. The line at reservations was a bit long, but not too bad and I didn't mind at all. A CM approached me to say Concierge could check me in. Nice! As I approach that checkin area I'm greeted with a warm hello and he starts to pull up my reservation. I explain that today 2/24 is a room only (no dining) but that the package starts tomorrow with dining. He says well I see you are staying with us for 186 days!

I am quick to react, stating..."that's right and it's all paid for and it includes dining"!

. We all had a good chuckle over the system goof. I was instructed that I would need to come back to that desk tomorrow am and get new Keys to the World cards because of the change in reservation. Now onto the good stuff, I was keeping my fingers crossed that my request for Magnolia Terrace was granted. I paid for a waterview room, whatever that meant and I was hoping it meant goodness. CM pulls out the resort map (quite large) and low and behold it is Magnolia Terrace - SCORE! I can't quite figure out the room location yet, but it looked good to me - facing the quite pool.

So I gather up the girls and we head outside to go to our room. It is only about 12:30pm and our room is ready. YEA. I begin to explain to DD1 & 2 the good news about room local. I wonder if they get how sweet it is! We walk over the first bridge that connects the main buildings to Ol'Man Island. The place is abuzz with activity. Kids laughing and swimming and splashing! (Did I just leave frigid snow covered New England a mere 4 hours ago?? I doesn't seem real to me yet. The landscaping at this resort is so beautiful. The river flows through the resort and I feel like I am "home". We quickly come to the second bridge that connects Ol'Man to the resort buildings. Right over the bridge, and I mean right over the bridge is our home. We are on the second floor. As we walk along to find our room number I'm wondering what it will look like inside. I haven't stayed in the "Mansion Section" since 1993 and I had heard other reports of the rooms being very tired looking. My concern quickly dissolved as I opened the door to find a perfectly cleaned, wonderful room. With TWO WINDOWS! How did I score a corner room?? The room gods were shining down on me today! I thought that corner rooms only had king size beds in them. But no, this one had two doubles. A corner room, really does make the room seem larger. I tried to explain the significance of this to the kids. I think they got it! Our mousekeeper, Louisa, took great care of us the entire stay we were there. She left us multiple towel animals everyday. She even decorated them with doodads and such. My kids loved coming back to the room every day to see what she left. One day we had a little chat with Louisa and found out she had been tending to rooms for over ten years, and loves every day! We love Louisa.....................

Bags down and a quick look around then off to the food court to get some vittles! I was going to buy our Mugs at this point and was hoping the new design would be out. It wasn't

As a matter of fact, the only color lids they had for the old ones were black. This wouldn't be bad, except it was hard to tell our mugs apart for the whole trip. DD2 and I got big juicy burgers with fries, of course! DD1 got a turkey sandwich with homemade chips which looked rather good. I was thinking I should have had that. We were stuffed and refilled our mugs before heading into the gift shop to explore. This gift shop is pretty nice (the one at AKL has to be the best though). I start scoping out future purchases and of course the kids hone in on what they want. I explain that we should not buy anything yet because I want them to see what there is at DTD first. Shopping became a recurring theme on this trip! Thank goodness for my credit card!

We head back to the room in the hopes that the luggage is there - and it is! We begin unpacking. Boy did I overpack (mental note to not do that again). At this point DD2 wasn't looking so good, she felt a bit warm to me, so I reached into my bag of tricks and gave her some meds. The kids wanted to go to DTD (even the ill one), so I said sure.

Heading back out at this point, I start thinking about how much I love it here - the sounds, the visuals and all. I am already making mental plans to return - SOON. I mean I could stay here for a week and not go into a park. Seriously, I could. Imagine just lounging by the pools, having cocktails, shopping and planning out where to eat dinner. You could rent bikes and boats, take long walks and then visit other resorts. That's my next plan of attack for next time. Ok, maybe I'll go to EPCOT (my favorite park).

We take the boat to DTD - nice ride - and shop at World of Disney Store. I make notes of the other stores I want to come back and visit. We are still kinda full from our late lunch, so I suggest icecream at Ghiradelli's. I didn't have to twist anyone's arm for that one. The smell of hot fudge is enough to turn one diabetic! The line was LOOONG, but soon enough our number was called. BTW it costs a lot of mooola to get sundaes here. We find a table outside, it is dark at this point and DTD is abuzz with people and twinkling lights. I call my brother back home to tell him where I am sitting and what I am doing! My brother is a huge disney fanatic. Way worse than I am. He has been here so many times he has lost count. And was he jealous!

I called him often on this trip to tell him where we were and what we were doing.

We head back to the boat launch and go to our resort. I has been a long day for all and DD2 seems to be getting worse. On the boat ride, she fell asleep on my shoulder and it felt like she was on fire! OMG now what was I going to do? Did she need anti'biotics I wonder? Back to the room, I pump her with more meds and get her into bed. The next day was going to be very busy and long. We were heading to EPCOT for the whole day and night. I wonder if our plans would remain the same.......up next EPCOT and sickness and what is up with people not wearing deodorant???!!

**Colexis Mom** · 04-03-2011, 10:00 AM

Glad you've made it to WDW after the rough flight!

How great your room was ready as well!

austinsmommie · 04-03-2011, 12:27 PM

I too grew up right outside of Boston and now live in Southern New Hampshire and get what you mean about the people. Every time I am there I can't wait to get back New Hampshire.

DLinNH · 04-03-2011, 12:29 PM

I wish JetBlue flew out of Manchester. Now that would be so sweet!

tdhc · 04-03-2011, 01:18 PM

I'm enjoying your trip report. Look forward to reading more.

**chezp** · 04-03-2011, 01:30 PM

Sounds like a lovely room!

DLinNH · 04-03-2011, 05:05 PM

I knew I had to be up early to change my room key and get new ones. The night before, DD2 had quite the fever. It was a good thing I didn't pack a thermometer, because I'm sure I would have freaked in the middle of the night. Even though I kept waking up and feeling her head, I must admit I had a fantastic sleep (when I could). The bed was so darn comfortable! For the past two years, my back was killing me every time I woke up and I was attributing it to aging! LOL. But this morning, I had zero back issues. Therefore, it MUST be my bed at home. I couldn't wait to sleep in my "new" bed again

. So I woke the girls and told them to start getting ready, after I asked DD2 for the 10th time if she felt up to going to EPCOT. She said, are you kidding me - I'm fine! Yea, right....

I left them to tend to their grooming and such, while I walked outside to another spectacular day! It was already in the 70's!. I was a happy camper to say the least. Walking by myself through this resort was sublime

I vowed I would make another reservation to return soon. I made my way to check in, again and the line was out of control. Apparently this was the start of the Princess 1/2 Marathon and there were lots of people checking in. Time was of the essence, because we had to have breakfast and head to EPCOT. Luckily I was told the day before to come right back to concierge to "re-check in". I was a little concerned with this whole process, because when I left our room I had a DME and checkout package hanging on our door.

I tried not to worry about it, however, when it was my turn, I explained that we were in the room and that all I needed was new keys with dining added onto them. The CM was nice and all, but she was very slow and a bit confused. She told me at first that I may have to change rooms. WHAT? I just unpacked and my kids were still sleeping so ummm that wasn't going to work! She then "fixed" it and asked if I would be using the same credit card for room charges. I said yup. (little did I know until after I was home that they charged my debit card that I originally made the reservation with AND NOT the credit card that was freed up of funds that I used to check in with on day one). Hope that makes sense to everyone reading. When I got home I had to do some very fancy financial figuring out!

Just be aware of stuff like that.

Well that was done and I stopped in the food court to get some breakfast items to take back to the room and it gave me a chance to see if the CM loaded my new card correctly - and she did! I got the bountiful breakfast platter for DD2 and I to share; a fruit cup and cinnamon roll and I refilled out resort mugs.

When I got back to the room the kids were pretty much ready to go and we ate a bit. The scrambled eggs were so yummy as was the small mickey shaped waffles. the cinnamon roll wasn't so hot. We had a lot of eating plans for our EPCOT day, so breakfast wasn't that big of deal to me.

We waited for the bus at the main depot (south) and it showed up immediately. As a matter of fact the only time we waited for a bus, all week, was the day we went to the MK. We never had to wait more than a few minutes!

I should add that DD2 was still not feeling well at all, but she was quite the trooper, I must say! There is something about walking into EPCOT, that simply chokes me up a bit. It makes me feel so good inside. First stop was SOARIN. I loved this ride the last time I was here in 2006 and I hoped I would still feel the same way this time around. The wait was 50 minutes

. I knew that if we didn't do it now, we probably never would. We waited with the masses and made small talk. The waiting area has interactive large screens on the wall to help pass the time. I thought this was a great idea to keep kids and some adults busy during the long wait. That was until I realized that in order for the interactive screens to work, it would require that people either clap their hands over their heads or wave their arms, etc...in order to get them to work. This would have been ok, if the man in front of us didn't stink! I mean a million times worse than the teen on the plane! I usually take people in stride and not let them bother me or ruin my vacation, but this was so totally unacceptable. He liked the interactive boards - he loved waving his arms over his head too!!!!

We had to cover our noses. and not just me and my kids, the woman behind me was getting sick. I decided that after enduring that for 50 minutes, there was no way in hell I was going to end up sitting next to him on the ride. Luckily, I didn't have to tell the CM directing the line to put us somewhere else, it just so happened he did anyway. I really was going to ask to not be near him.

With SOARIN done, I wanted to head to World Showcase. Usually, on past trips, I wouldn't allow enough time to really enjoy each country, but this time I knew I would make it a point to stop and enjoy each to it's fullest. I called my bro again as I walked....I wish he were here with us!

DD2 had a passport which she proudly got stamped in almost every country. She also made it a point to find every pressed penny machine on Disney Property..LOL. (just kidding). We ate Fish and Chips in the UK. So delicious. The only problem was trying to find a place to sit. The birds by the lagoon were a huge problem, but I didn't let that stop my excitement of trying something new.

In France, we watched the film (just loved it) and ate a chocolate croissant, DD1 had the ham and cheese croissant. DD2 didn't eat. To this day DD1 says it was the best thing she ever ate~ (make sure to have it heated). She wouldn't even share

.

DD2 was losing steam at this point, but didn't want to leave.

I had my first grown up slushie at the cart near France. Grand Marnier Slush was delish. The kids got Kaki Gori in Japan and didn't stop raving about them. We bought some really cool bags of candy in Japan to take home to Tom (he loves his candy). They had marshmallows with apple jelly filling inside them. They were really cool. I didn't want to carry them so I had our purchases sent to our resort! I love Disney......

We made our way to the American Adventure - so patriotic! Pretzels were in order in Germany (this pavilion was mobbed). We never made it to the Carmel shop. I wished we had. Norway found us eating my favorite Rice Cream concoction. Love it. and then we finished in Mexico. DD1 loves it in there. She was grinning from ear to ear.

Up next Dinner at San Angel Inn.........

mcc0313 · 04-03-2011, 06:06 PM

What a great start, minus some people forgetting their deoderant and DD not feeling well. I hope that whatever was ailing her dissappeared as quickly as it started. She definitely is a trooper, there is something about being on property that no matter how bad you are feeling you just keep pushing on. Glad that you were able to keep your room, we love POR, the atmosphere is wonderful and I have often found that we could just stay at the resort, take the boat to DTD and be totally happy without ever stepping foot in a park. Can't wait to hear more.

bkwrm · 04-03-2011, 06:29 PM

I have goosebumps just reading your trip report. I'm sitting here and it's snowing out and I want to go back to WDW sooooooo much. I feel your joy. And I am totally at a loss to understand why people don't wear deodorant. There should be a law......lol.
Sharon

**Cam22** · 04-03-2011, 06:35 PM

I teach high school, and like you, I like a break from teenagers while on vacation. Glad you survived the flight with a whole slew of them. Your room sounds wonderful. Hope DD2 gets to feeling better.