Our Disney Trip Report!!

Ok all.... here is a recap of our 8 days at WDW from March 28th thru April 4th.

Day one, Saturday - We arrived for our 1st stay ever at Port Orleans Riverside Resort at Disney World at about 10am. I did not do the online check in, was too chicken of a system glitch. Out of curiosity I looked for an online check in line but did not see one so I was not sorry for being chicken...checking in was quick even though there was a small line. We were all set in about 15 minutes. We stayed in room 2752 in AB. I had requested building 18 or 27 so we were happy with the room. We parked the car and proceeded to take a load of luggage to our room.... silly us for not asking bell services to assist. All the heavy stuff was left so we called bell services and they were there in a jiffy and had all our stuff in the room in one quick trip. It was upstairs too so I tipped the bell guy $5. We had towel animals from the start and a big Mickey face made from towels on one of the beds too!! After settling in everyone wanted lunch so it was off to try out the Disney Dining Plan at the Riverside Mill!! The food was great!! After lunch we suited up and spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool at Ole Man Island. The slide was a hit with the kids...and for me too!! Later we ate dinner, shopped at the gift store and explored a bit. Cassie and Jessica added charms to their Disney charm bracelets from previous visits and Gracie bought her 1st charm bracelet and got four charms for it, along with a GIANT lollipop! Then we headed off to bed to be fresh and rested for the Magic Kingdom!!

Day two, Sunday - We left our resort at 7:50am to make ropedrop at Magic Kingdom. It was rainy and they cancelled the opening show :( Still we took off for a magical day. As soon as we got in the gates the rain slowed and there were Chip and Dale and we were 1st in line. As expected they goofed around and we got some great pictures. We walked onto every ride we wanted to...some even twice!! We did all of Fantasy Land, except Dumbo due to the rain and then headed to Space Mountain for fastpasses. Then on to Frontierland for Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. The wait for Thunder Mountain was about 15 minutes and Splash was about the same. Then we went to Haunted Mansion and literally walked right in!! We then went to Pirates of the Caribbean and walked onto that also. The rain had stopped by then and Gracie wanted to ride Aladdin but it was temporarily broken down...so we went on Jungle Cruise, which was about a ten-minute wait. We ate lunch afterwards and then met my MIL at about 1:30. We went on Haunted Mansion again...about a 10-minute wait this time and then road Pirates again with about a 15-minute wait. We noticed the crowds getting big and headed back to the resort for some rest and relaxation, (and a nap for Gracie and Daddy). We ate dinner at Boat Wrights and then headed back to Magic Kingdom for shopping, fireworks, parades and Space Mountain!! We didn’t get back to the resort till about 12am!!

Day three, Monday – This was an Epcot day! We were there at the park about 10am due to our late night before. Crowds were still manageable. We rode Soaring on standby with a 20-minute wait. Gracie did not like it one bit!! She thought she was going to fall but was not hysterical or anything…just said she didn’t like it. We went over to the Living Seas next and rode Nemo and did Turtle Talk, we all loved Turtle Talk. Gracie bought a new drinking cup with Nemo on it, a set of Nemo bath toys and a Little mermaid doll set. Another great perk of staying onsite at Disney is all packages are able to be sent back to your resort so you don't have to lug them around all day!!We headed over to World Showcase and browsed the countries. The flower gardens were just beautiful!! As we strolled through France there was Belle standing on a little off to the side sidewalk with no line!! Gracie was ecstatic and got her picture taken and a big hug too! We ended up eating lunch at the Liberty Inn so the kids would eat too! Afterwards it was on to Mission Space and Test Track!! We rode the spinning side of Mission Space, (thank goodness for Dramamine!). This is one of my favorite rides followed closely by Everest and Tower of Terror! We headed back to our resort around 6pm and ate dinner there. MIL was tired and had to head home that night. She had booked herself a room at Port Orleans French Quarter for the night before and said it was beautiful!

Day four, Tuesday – Hollywood Studios!! Wow we did so much this day!! All day in the park with no break. We started out with American Idol and then over to ride Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. We got fastpasses for another ride on Tower of Terror later on and headed to Play House Disney and the Ariel show. The kids met Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Stitch. They did the Backlot Tour, Star Tours, lunch and then we let the kids play in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. They had a blast!! We all played actually. It is a playground where you are shrunken down and playing in the backyard like in the movie. Huge blades of grass and giant leaves to slide on. A huge spider web to climb.....it was fun!! Afterwards Gracie met Sully and Mike from Monster's Inc, she was very happy to meet them! We headed to Sunset Boulevard and got another set of fastpasses for Rockin Roller Coaster and went on Tower of Terror again, then saw Beauty and the Beast show and rode Rockin Roller Coaster. Jessica got a totally cool Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster tee shirt! By then it was about 7pm and we headed over to Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks again. (we LOVE Wishes!!)

Day five, Wednesday – This was my Gracies day to be a princess. She got up and did the whole princess dress and hair up do with a tiara, (the gel is sticky so we went light on it!). She was dressed like Belle and she was so happy and proud. This was her day so the first thing we did was head to Toontown. We met Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Tinkerbelle, SilverMist and Fawn, (Don’t miss meeting the fairies! Very funny and very pretty!). Then we headed to the judges tent and met Mickey and Minnie!! Then we were off to Ariels Grotto. My little princess is a collector of shiny things and had been picking up sequins and such while we were waiting to see Ariel. When it was her turn Ariel saw her collection and told her how she was a collector too. Then she told her that sometimes her scales come off and if Gracie would look under her tail she may find some shiny scales to take and add to her collection. Ariel lifted her tail and Daddy helped Gracie look and they found about ten shiny scales!! I got it all on video…just awesome!! It was lunchtime by then so we ate and then headed to ride Aladdin’s Carpet. After we rode we met Jasmine just outside the ride and then over by Pirates of the Caribbean to meet Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Smitty. Everywhere we went Cast Members greeted Gracie with, "Hello Your Highness"!, it was awesome and Gracie had the biggest smile all day! We went on more rides, although Gracie never did get brave enough to try Snow Whites Scary Adventure, she rides Haunted Mansion with no problem but won't get near Snow White!! We headed to Tommorrowland and saw the Monsters Inc show and Stitches Great Escape. Afterwards we spent the rest of the day shopping and then called it a night!

Day six, Thursday – Animal Kingdom! We made ropedrop and watched the opening show. We got fastpasses for Safari …which I highly recommend, it was very good! We then headed to Asia for Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids. Rode both and got Fastpasses for Expedition Everest to ride again later. We watched Bugs Life, and then visited with Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. Had lunch at the Flamin BBQ and then headed into Dinoland. That was it for Gracie!! She loved the playground in Dinoland!! Cassie and Jessica and Mark and I took turns riding Dinosaur and Primeval whirl in pairs while two of us stayed with Gracie while she played!! After we were finally done exploring Dinoland we rode Expedition Everest one last time, got Mark and Jessica Expedition Everest tee shirts and headed back to the resort for an early night…finally some sleep!! Gracie looked so cute snuggled up with a little stuffed Yeti from Expedition Everest Cassie bought for her!

Day seven, Friday – Magic Kingdom again…. we had a nice relaxing day. No hurrying just enjoying the Kingdom. We rode Cinderella’s Carousel about 4 times and found Cinderella’s fav horse with the golden ribbon for Gracie to ride. We rode Dumbo and Aladdin’s Carpet. Got fastpasses and rode Space Mountain for the last time before it closes for rehab!! Saw the Mickey’s Philharmagic and rode Thunder Mountain Railroad. We watched Wishes from a pavilion near the castle and got to see Tinkerbell pass right above us!! Then we went over to Sleepy Hollow Inn for funnel cakes and watched SpectroMagic! On the way out Cassie attempted some shopping and I got Grace a stuffed 'Marie' kitty from The Aristocats, she also finally got her Princess balloon she had been asking for all week!! It was a magical final day in the Kingdom!!

Day eight, Saturday and our final day – I got things together and the car loaded, (thanks again to bell services!!). After checkout we headed over to Hollywood Studios for some shopping and a few last rides on Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster. We headed for home, totally exhausted and happy at about 6pm….

All in all we had a great time!! We loved the Port Orleans Resort. We had special mousekeeping services everyday with either towel animals or special arrangements made with Gracies existing animals, which overjoyed her!! All other visits had been to Bay Lake resorts just next to the Magic Kingdom so we missed that convenience a little but loved the Port Orleans recreation and pool area. I also loved using the Disney Dining Plan, it made all meals so easy and we didn't have to worry about shelling out $$ at the time of our meals or snacks...because it was all pre-paid for! I have a ton of pictures but we are waiting for our Photopass CD and then Mark will upload them all together. I will do a special blog just of pictures then!!!

Hope the report wasn't too long....I didn't want to leave anything out!!