Trip Review February 18, 2017 - February 26, 2017 - Port Orleans Riverside

Thanks for sharing your trip! We did Lotus…once! We ended up eating peanut butter crackers instead! But it did keep us out of the rain!

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Thanks for the report! Hope you get better soon :+1:

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Ok mouse fans. I am back and the cold is gone. Woot.

We woke up early on the 19th, which is never hard with a 4 year old at the D, and got dressed to head to the Magic Kingdom. We had morning breakfast reservations at The Crystal Palace at 8:40 and there were Extra Magic hours that started at 8am. We got to the park and up by the castle just as the park opening show was starting. The show was pretty good for what it was and I prefer it to the old one if I am being honest. Being in the park and not having to deal with the crash of people going under the train bridge is great.

After the show finished, we still had more than a half hour until our breakfast reservation, so I suggested we try to squeeze in some rides in Adventureland. I planned to knock out Pirates, Jungle Cruise and the magic carpets before breakfast by doing them in that order, but DS4 wasn’t having it. He insisted on riding the carpets, which he hadn’t wanted to ride at all on our two previous trips. We committed to doing new things and by gosh, he was determined to start the trip that way. We ended up hitting Aladdin’s Magic Carpets then cruising over to the Jungle Cruise. We looked at the line for Pirates and we probably cold have done it and only been a couple minutes late for our reservation, which is no big deal, but DW insisted we head to breakfast. We ate and we ate and then we ate more. Yeah, serious puppy belly. I really dig the breakfast at Crystal Palace. The Steak and cheese scramble and breakfast lasagna are both legit.

After we were all really full and had seen Pooh and friends and DS got to parade around inside the Crystal Palace, we were off to start the day. Our first fast pass was for Splash Mountain, but not until 10:15 and it was about 9:40. It was actually ideal, because we got to knock out Pirate on the walk over. Adventureland complete. Check. (We all dislike the Tiki Lounge, so had no intention of seeing it again). We hit up Splash Mountain, DW’s Favorite, for our fast pass, then we rode it again, because really… who rides it once? After Splash, we knocked out Big Thunder Mountain, DS’s fav, and then headed to the Country Bear’s Jamboree. Me and DS LOVE this show, especially “blood on the ground bear.” While waiting for CBJ, I remembered that we hadn’t placed our lunch order yet for Be Our Guest, which we’d be headed to after this show. Too late. I couldn’t place the order online.

With Frontierland and Adventureland completed, we were on our way to lunch at Be Our Guest. Don’t be us. Order ahead. We stood in line for 20 minutes to place our order, which is just silly. I had the Carved Roast Beef Sandwich, DW had Croque Monsieur and DS had the whole grain macaroni. Myself and my wife both liked ours, but DS didn’t care for the pasta. I was still full, so gave him some of my fries and half my sandwich. As a side note, I’d never get the Deluxe Dining Plan again. It’s just too much food for a human to eat, I think.

Lunch was completed. We suncreened up and were headed to Tomorrow land for our last fast pass on Buzz Light Year’s Space Ranger Space Spin. Of course, I got the high score in our group because I am highly competitive. After Buzz, we rode the Carousel of Progress, which is fantastic. I would say it’s a must do on every trip. We all loved it and DS was singing the song the entire trip. While waiting in line for Carousel of Progress, I grabbed a fast pass for the Mad Tea Party. We rode the Tea Party, then Regal carousel and it was time to start heading out to go to Chef Mickey’s for Dinner. We got to the Contemporary mad early for our 6pm dinner, so we checked out the gift shops. DS used his allowance and bought a toy monorail.

Chef Mickey’s is really good for a buffet. I never expect much when I eat at a buffet, but the food here was really good. We were there long enough that as we started to eat dessert the window coverings went up and the view from the Contemporary is pretty amazing. After supper we were all beat, so we decided to head back to the Resort for some shut eye, so we could get back at it the next day.

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What a fabulous day! I’m surprised you couldn’t pre-order at BOG, I’ve seen people post that they arrived at BOG for their ADR, saw the length of the line to order, and pre-ordered at that point to skip it.

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I was too. The site kept giving the option, but when i clicked on it it would error out.

MDE is so glitchy :-/ I thought you meant the option wasn’t there.

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Naw it was there, just the glitch witch. I honestly thought maybe it just kept erroring because i was outside some time window or something. Kept getting the NOT cute anymore Stitch page.

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Enjoying your trip report- thanks for sharing with us.

Though you can keep the man cold. Or share it elsewhere. :smile:

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President’s Day

We woke up early and walked to the West Depot to grab a bus to Animal Kingdom for our breakfast reservation. Even though we were in building 18, it really wasn’t a much longer walk to the West Depot and we often opted to do this rather than getting on an already crowded bus at the South Depot. It’s a strategy that worked well for us, especially since we wanted DS to get a seat and even if one was available at the other depot, there’s no way he’d have sat next a stranger. He just will not under any circumstance do that.

We got to AK at about 9 and made our way into the park for our 9:35 breakfast at Tusker House. We walked pretty leisurely and stopped for some photos in front of the Tree of Life then grabbed coffees at Starbuck’s. This is arguably one of the best uses of a snack credit at Disney if you’re like me and take your drinks amped up. I got the quad Venti Caramel Macchiato (almost 8 bucks, again a great use of a snack credit), DW got a Venti Iced Mocha and DS would not be denied. He saw cake pops and really wanted one, so what the heck… it’s Disney, so we let him have one. While we were waiting for the drinks, he dropped his cake pop. Queue really big tears. The cast member behind the counter asked what was wrong as I was trying to calm him and explain we’d get him another one. I looked up and said, “he dropped his cake pop.” She smiled and said, “all you had to do was say something. Let me grab you another.” Disney always makes it right.

With the cake pop crisis averted, we headed to Tusker for breakfast. It’s good though surprisingly, my least favorite breakfast of the trip. I say surprising, because on our last trip we ate here for lunch and it was really good. I think the thing that did it for me was the smoked salmon I grabbed off the buffet. I violated my “no seafood from a buffet, ever” rule and boy did I regret it. I took a bite and immediately wretched several times. I almost tossed my cookies. It was bad. DS thought this was hilarious and in hindsight, it was pretty funny.

After breakfast we headed to the festival of the Lion King next door and got in just as the show as starting. This was very reminiscent of cirque du soleil. We all loved it. After the show was over we headed to our fast pass for the character meet up at adventurers outpost where we met Mickey and Minnie. This was pretty silly after having just had a character breakfast, but DW wanted the photos. After the meet up, we headed over to Expedition Everest for our next fast pass. We were all pretty amped that DS was tall enough for Mission Space, because it meant he’d be tall enough to ride this. If he hadn’t been we’d just have canceled the FP, but we needn’t worry now. We got on the ride and wow! This is a really fun coaster. DS declared immediately it was his favorite ride and asked to go again. We checked the line and it was an 80 minute wait. I explained and he asked how long that was. I explained it was about as long as a movie and he was like… “No way. let’s do something else.” Our next fast pass was suppose to be Fesitival of the Lion King, but with that having been hit earlier, we could make more Fast Passes. DS really wanted to go back and hop in the pool and DW and I were fine with that. WE headed back to POR and got changed then went to the dining hall for lunch before hopping in the pool.

…more later today

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Enjoying your report!

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…President’s Day continued

After our break, we got our stuff together to head to Magic Kingdom. We got there just after 5 and headed over to Frontierland for our Fastpass on Thunder Mountain and of course afterward, DS wanted to do Splash. Being DW’s fav we rode it again then headed up to Main Street to grab a spot for Wishes. We had a pretty incredible spot that wasn’t on Main street, but in the path from nearish Crystal Palace to the Castle. DS was getting a little hungry being we had a very late dining reservation that night 8:45. He looked and said, “I’m hungry, daddy.” DW offered him apple sauce and crackers that we had in the bag and he refused. I asked, “what would you like to eat?” He said, “I dunno, so french fries or something?” It made sense… lots of folks were eating grub from Casey’s. It was getting pretty crowded, but I’m a people pleaser. DW was like, “You’re not going to get back to us.” I told her I would. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I got to Casey’s and it was really busy… LIke holy cow busy and they man in front of me ordered 25 meals! Not even hyperbole. It took about 10 minutes, but I got the food and was coming out of Casey’s as the fireworks were starting. Now to wrestle the crowd… HA! found them! DW wasn’t pleased that I gave DS his fries while he was sitting on her shoulders.

Once Wishes wrapped, we headed to Adventureland and I DS wanted to ride Alladin’s carpets again, so we took him over. DW sat this one out. After the ride, we headed up to our dining Reservation at Jungle Navigation Company. I had the S.E.A Shui Mai as an appetizer and Dr. Falls’ Signature Grilled Steak as my dinner, because you know it’d be a mistake not to, and Coconut Bar with Pineapple-Basil Compote and Vanilla Cream as dessert. DW had the Orinoco Ida’s Cachapas as an appetizer and the Nile Nellie’s Noodle Bowl with Duck and Quick Sand!!! for Dessert. DS had the Safari snack and mac and cheese and Volcano! for dessert. I also ordered whatever the signature mixed drink was. Can’t remember, it had a spicy sugar rim on the glass. So, this restaurant was both good and bad. The good… the food was great for the adults. The food for DS was terrible. He never says no to mac and cheese and hated the yucca fries. I tried them, they were yucky. The adult meals and apps were fab. Now the bad… It was late and a bunch of stuff went weird. When I walked up to check in, the woman behind the desk started with puns and I hit her back with several. This distracted her because another person walked up and she checked them in then realized she didn’t check me in and apologized, really not a huge deal or something I would sweat just something I noticed. When we sat down, the server was really nice, but he was very overwhelmed and it showed, definitely in the weeds. He took our order and made with the bad puns, but forgot my drink. Once our entrées came out I realized it was forgotten. No problem, I figured, I didn’t need the $15 drink anyway and would just ask him to take it off the bill, so I did. He acted surprised that I didn’t want it still. I think he was going to have to tell his boss. I was right. He came back with the drink and it was on the house. He also took our dessert order before the entrèes came out. I think he was trying to close his section to go home. At any rate, I got the wrong dessert. Instead of the coconut bar, I got the Kangaloosh. I didn’t much care and just ate it and it was great. I chalk this up to it being late and folks wanting to get home. I’ve been there many times at work myself, so no harm as far as I’m concerned, just not an all around stellar experience.

After dinner we headed up to fantasyland and on the way decided to ride the Haunted Mansion. After the Mansion we wanted to leave, but DS was in full on ride mode. He wanted more. He asked if we could ride the Tea cups, but DW doesn’t much care for them. I got us a fast pass for them and she rode pooh. We didn’t need the fast pass as there was no line at this hour, so we rode 3 times waiting for DW to come back. As soon as she got back we were done for the day and headed back to resort and got into bed around midnight.

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Wow! That was one fun filled day!! And good for DS going until midnight!! :grinning:

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Wow, thanks for all the info. Posts like these help a Disney newbie like myself get prepared for the unexpected.

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How wet do you get on splash mountain?

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Depends on the seat - I think front seat is pretty much guaranteed wet on the big drop. My kids like to duck, I and have had a few funny firehose in the face rides.

Otherwise you might get a splash here and there and some residual seat dampness.

(Sounds like a late-night infomercial - “Do you suffer from residual seat dampness?”)

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:joy::joy:

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It’s going to really depend on the timing of the boat you get on. I don’t think you get soaked going down the hill even in the front. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll be wet, but not drenched. The most soaked we got was when out boat was in the perfect position near the beginning of the ride to take on the full slash from a boat that had just gone down the hill. I was in the second row with DS and DW was up front and we were SOAKED.

So do you just bring a change of clothes?

Naw, I mean really… it’s just your shirt that’ll take most of it. You’ll dry fairly fast. My shoes didn’t get wet or anything and we had our phones and such in our pockets and they didn’t get wet.

Last July, I was alone in the front row of a full boat. I got a facefull of water! But the rest of me stayed dry. It was a hot day, and I dried quickly, so I didn’t mind. I don’t remember my clothes being wet, just my face and hair, so it didn’t seem like a problem.