Ellie's Nov 13-18 French Quarter Trip Report

[ellie]

hi all!

Just got back last night from a wonderful visit to WDW. The group included my friend Traci (we grew up down the street from
each other) and her 2 daughters: Bella turned 8 five days before the trip and Emma is 10, 2 months shy of 11. First trip for all three.
The girls are home schooled which made the scheduling easy. I don't have any kids and this was my first time planning/going on
a trip with youngsters. I highly recommend it! Their excitement is contagious and I had my first character meals. It helped that
the girls are truly loving and kind with each other and others. Not one squabble or bad attitude all week (can't say the same in
just an hour or so around my oldest niece/nephew) The girls were a great age to enjoy the characters and try all the rides.

Sunday, Nov 13 Partly cloudy, hi 80, low 57

Traci didn't tell the girls until breakfast that morning. They thought they were getting ready for church. She videotaped
it on her camera so I got to see the excitement/disbelief. Emma first thought she was going just for the day and then was
thrilled to hear that we'd be there for 6 days/5 nights even though it meant leaving dad/dog/cat behind for so long.

I flew from Baltimore on a Southwest flight which stopped in Nashville (their city) before continuing to Orlando.
I had only met Emma when she was about 2 and had never met Bella, but the girls are very sweet, outgoing, and friendly,
so we got along great from the start. I'm already missing being in demand for ride buddy and having one or both of them
hold my hand(s) as we walk.

Arrived in Orlando earlier than our 2:05 arrival - we actually had our bags at 2:05 and then had the long walk to the other side of
the terminal to catch the Magical Express to the French Quarter. The bus was loading just as we walked to the end of the line
so no wait!

French Quarter is lovely. I've stayed at Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Coronado Springs and it was without doubt
my favorite. So laid back and pretty yet casual. We were in building 5 right across from the hot tub which was a perfect spot to
get to the pool, the hot tub, the buses, and the food court. Wonderfully quiet (my May GF trip had a yelling/threatening to divorce
couple next door one night and a party with the door propped open group another night). We had the traditional Micky earred towel
creation on one of the beds upon arrival.

After checking into our room it was pool time. Brenda is right, these kids could not get enough pool time - I had us scheduled for
5 days in a row but even so an hour or even two before our break I'd start hearing... when are we going to the pool? and later, can
we go to the pool/hot tub tonight? The slide may be the shortest of the moderates but it's actually quite fun - I went down a lot
with the girls. They liked the water features as well. After the pool we sat in the hot tub for a few minutes. Also a big hit.

IMG_2857.jpg

IMG_2886.jpg

IMG_2706.jpg

Once in line we caught the 2nd boat to Downtown Disney (only a few minutes more wait). The girls loved all the birds we saw
along the way. Dinner was at Earl of Sandwich. I wish we had one here in Baltimore. We got chips instead of dessert - on the free
regular dining plan. Afterwards we looked at the pin store and visited the Lego Store and looked at the Lego creations. The girls
put together mini Lego people in the back 'creation' area and then disassembled them. Finished with Goofy's Candy Co where the
three of them had their own custom chocolate dunked/topping coated/chocolate drizzled creations made. I was waiting for a
Starring Rolls cupcake the next day. There was no line for the boat back to the French Quarter.

Finished unpacking and then the girls went with me to pick up the groceries left by Garden Grocer. So glad we got the 24 pack
bottle of Aquafina. Got to bed early in preparation for Hollywood Studios rope drop. I brought my own pillow. I've heard
complaints about the beds but I thought it extremely comfortable. Traci told her husband she wanted to take it home. No one
complained about the pillows. Happy they have queens as the girls had one bed and Traci and I were sharing the other. The digital
thermostat worked great and kept the room comfy cool.

[Eticket]

Hi Ellie,

Sounds great so far! I just started a trip report where we stayed at French Quarter and raved about Earl of Sandwich too. Great minds think alike?

I feel like I couldn't surprise my kids. I just feel like they wouldn't react well ... but it sounds like it worked for your friend!

-Eric

[ellie]

hi Eric,

Traci almost cracked a few times. She decided she needed a few hours knowledge so she could get help from them with the final last bit packing, like the toiletries. This definitely kept them from being distracted from their schoolwork in the days/weeks beforehand.

[josh]

Sounds like a fun first day

[ellie]

And I should certainly have thanked everyone here for all their input/thoughts/itinerary/strategy help/improvements that contributed to make this trip flow so smoothly!
Thank you!

DTD worked out well the first night as it was all on our schedule. The boat, Earl of Sandwich, Goofy's, and the Lego Store were all new for me this trip, too. As one of the girls said, we're not even in the parks yet but we're having so much fun!

[ellie]

Monday, Nov 14 Partly cloudy, hi 82, low 68

I was up at 6:30a. It didn't feel like I had slept all night but Traci said she was awake in the middle and I was sound asleep.
She didn't think she had slept but I was up the last few hours and she was out. We had OJ juice boxes, bagels, cream cheese,
cheddar cheese slices, yogurt, and bananas from Garden Grocer to start the day. I was very pleased to see that the group
was fast moving in the morning. It helped that they all bathed at night and I grew up in a family of 6 with 1 shower. Caught our
bus and were at HS by 8:13a. We were second in line at our turnstile.

IMG_2729.jpg

It was pretty exciting. When they let us through the turnstiles we were about 3 back at the rope and ended up right next to bigdaddybyrd!

IMG_2733.jpg

I'm very grateful to off2neverland for her critique/advice for the touring strategy today! Thanks Christine!!
There were numerous bathroom breaks and we heeded advice from this forum. One person goes all the others try to go.

9:00a TSM. I got the FPs while the rest went to get in line. There was some slowness at the my machine. The gals let others
pass them until I caught up with them. Others were cutting in line to get to their parties. Traci commended me on my good
behavior.

9:16a We had our glasses. Traci was the high scorer. Everyone loved it.

9:25a We were walking through the deserted Streets of America toward Star Tours, which was walk on. I was a little concerned about this one motion wise but it didn't give me any problems. 4 thumbs up. Bella wanted to spend time in the roped off extra queue area outside
under the 'trees'... she thought it looked interesting.

9:48a We got pictures of each girl on the speeder thing with the backdrop. The girls were easy to please. They liked this as much as Star Tours itself.

9:55a I left the others at Little Mermaid and went and got ToT FPs.

10:10a We all saw Little Mermaid. First princess. All good.

10:35a Muppets. Our third pair of 3D glasses during the day. Emma later volunteered that the part of 3D movies she didn't like was 'things coming out at you'. I was amused. I asked her what part she did like. She said they were fun.

10:58a Stopped to take pictures of Phineas and Ferb. Apparently what I thought was an angry bird T shirt is some platypus from this show. Traci said it's worth watching.

IMG_2739.jpg

10:59a In line at Pizza Planet waiting for them to open. Bella had been well versed that she had to choose from the kid's menu but thanks to the easywdw I knew we could get her the pepperoni pizza she really wanted. We all got pepperoni pizza. Were grateful that instead of dessert you can get extra bottles of water! Traci and I each started the day with 2 cold bottles in our packs and added from the counter service ones. We mostly drank water all trip. Traci had one coke and we all had pomegranate lemonade our 3 TS dinners. I had considered eating at Indiana Jones but Traci thought we could eat upstairs at Pizza Planet and still make it in time for the show.

11:25a Arrive at Indiana Jones. I knew this was going to be close. They were saying standing room only but they directed us down
to the front left where there were seats available. We ended up in the 3rd row with a pretty good view and where you could really
feel the heat from the explosions. The girls liked the explosions, the beginning rope drop, and the final scene.

12:20p Taking pictures of the signatures/handprints in front of Beauty and the Beast theater. I never noticed them before. We
had great seats down front in the middle. I had gotten the girls name embroidered princess pink lanyards (Traci just got a blue
one) and pins from ebay for us all to trade. They really enjoyed it, especially Bella. She noticed the CM manning the wheelchair seating had pins so she had to go down and trade. Traci liked the Beauty and the Beast show the best.

1:20p Tower of Terror. I don't love this ride but the girls, although nervous, were ready to try it. Traci had been told by a friend
that she couldn't leave HS without getting on it. The ghosts didn't bother them at all. The ride itself traumatized Bella. She was
sitting in the middle of the vehicle on the end next to me and as soon as we started dropping she shut her eyes and clung to me.
She didn't speak for 5 minutes after we got off the ride. She didn't cry, she just looked shocked. Emma loved it. Traci detested it.
We gave Bella lots of hugs and then went right to the ice cream stand down the street. 4 minutes into eating a tremendously
large cup of orange sherbert Bella started talking again. She let us know she never ever was getting on that ride again in her life.
Luckily, youngsters are resilient. Unluckily, she was traumatized even more by a ride the next day.

We stopped and got me a Starring Rolls red velvet cupcake to go. We sat here for a bit and rested.
We meandered down the street and saw folks singing and something with the mayor and Ben Appetit.

2:13p Outside the park at the Christmas tree.

IMG_2756.jpg

2:30p Back at French Quarter for our shortest break. Bus arrived just as we walked up to it. Mousekeeping had left the two swans towel creation which happily surprised the girls. Had time for a half hour lie down then pool break and 6 minutes of hot tub before we had to head out to our ADR.

[pfalcioni]

I'm in! Sounds like a wonderful trip!

[6mousefans]

Your trip sounds wonderful so far! I'm in!

[Ferg]

WONDERFUL report so far! Can't wait to read the rest!

[radiochick]

Looking forward to more pictures!! and very excited that you are liking POFQ... that's where we are headed in 25 days! :)

[ellie]

4:15p I had bought glow sticks on ebay which could be turned into bracelets/necklaces and the girls made jewelry before we headed out.
One nice part about being there after the time change the week before is that we didn't need to apply more sunscreen for our evening forays!

4:30p We asked out front for a taxi to be called to get us to the Beach Club for our Cape May Clam bake dinner. Traci really wanted to eat
here if we could fit it in. There was usually one or two taxis in the parking lot waiting for customers and it would only take a minute or two
for them to appear. I love taxis at DW. Small extra cost compared to the rest of the trip and such time savers! It was the girls' first taxi trip so counted as another 'ride'.

The Beach Club is lovely. The gingerbread carousel wasn't there yet but the lobby is beautiful. The girls sat and watched cartoons and Traci caught up on FB while I checked in for our buzzer at the podium.

IMG_2769.jpg

5:06p Sitting down for dinner. This was my first time at Cape May and it really has a nice spread. We discovered we all like the pomegranate lemonade. The girls had a good time attacking the snow crab legs (yummy! 4 thumbs up) and trying the mussels and clams (small). Marinated beef tips with spicy tomato sauce was excellent with their mashed potatoes. I had thirds. Traci liked the chowder and ribs; Bella the mac n'cheese and ribs; Emma the steamed shrimp with 'dipping sauce'. The salads were just ok in my opinion. Traci said the carved beef didn't have much flavor. The mini desserts were a hit, especially the berry cheesecake. I split a tasty house oreo bon-bon with Traci. It was a very relaxed meal and we got done early enough to walk over to the light house and catch a boat back to HS. A much nicer boat than ours - this one was enclosed/air conditioned. You could tell it's a deluxe resort area.

6:40p Back in HS and heading toward TSM. It said 30 minutes wait but there was basically no line. We had our FPs so popped right on through. I beat Traci this time. On our way to the Osborne Lights we saw that Woody and Buzz were doing a M&G with hardly any line!
So bummed that we had left the autograph books in the room but we got in line. (note for future... always bring the autograph books to the parks!) 15 minute wait and

IMG_2780.jpg

7:20p We got plenty of pictures and the minder/photographer luckily convinced Traci and I to have pictures taken too. I'm pretty sure Woody was flirting with me.

7:28p Osborne Lights! Definitely not crowded. There was plenty of room on the streets to easily walk around. The soapflakes 'snow' was pretty neat. I'm not posting pictures of the girls' faces as they aren't mine and even the FB ones of them I posted were only open to
Traci's and my family's and a few close friends. So here are Traci's and Emma's backs.

IMG_2802.jpg

This was a great place to stand at the end of the street and look back while the lights were 'dancing'.

IMG_2805.jpg

If only we weren't so full from dinner!

IMG_2809.jpg

7:50p Done with Lights and headed back to bus stop. It was our longest day in terms of park/transportation time versus break and folk were tired. The TN gals all took long tub baths before bed. Everyone slept well.

[jillyb]

Great trip so far! Looking forward to more!

[radiochick]

Ellie I added a Cape May ressie at your recommendation... The boat over to the boardwalk will be fun.

Are you going to post more? :)

[ellie]

Tuesday, Nov 15 [Motivated to finish this trip report off... someone said they'd be happy to read trip reports with Josh on vacation... sorry it's so old... perhaps read as a preview for the upcoming holiday season.]

We ate breakfast in the room (I brought some beignets back from the food court to supplement our Garden Grocer items) and got to MK for the opening ceremony.

Bella and I went and got Space Mountain FPs and then met Traci and Emma at Buzz.

Buzz Lightyear
Peter Pan
Winnie the Pooh
Mad Tea Party (twice for the girls, once for Traci, none for me... can't take the spinning).
10:10 am
The White Rabbit was out signing autographs.

IMG_2825.jpg

Snow White My last time for a classic.
Carousel

10:20 Crown shopping! The girls had been given money from a family friend specifically to buy princess crowns with so we went shopping. Emma bought the Belle crown and Bella bought one with several princesses that had an option to flash lights.

Walked through Frontier Land and took pictures of the girls in the stocks.
Got Splash Mountain FPs. This was going to be our last ride before break just in case we got wet.

11:10 am
BTMRR. Emma almost talked herself out of it once we were already seated in the cars.
Her mom convinced her she'd be fine. Everyone loved it. We rode twice.

Splash Mountain. I got *soaked*. I've never been this wet on a ride before - I don't do Kali River Rapids. I'm not a happy camper when I'm wet down to the underclothes.

I went and got Jungle Cruise FPs (ah the days when you could use FPs outside their time windows!).
The others got autographs and photos with Peter Pan.

I went to the Bakery and got an ice cream sandwich. Big enough for all to share when cut in fourths.

IMG_2849.jpg

We caught part of the Move It Shake It parade before we headed back to POFQ.

IMG_2850.jpg

Ate at Sassagoula Floatworks. Bacon Cheeseburgers for Emma and Traci, Mac & Cheese for Bella, and a tasty Muffeletta for me.
The others took a long nap while I went and took photos around the resort.

[ellie]

We all revived with a dip in the pool. So glad the weather was cooperating because the girls couldn't get enough pool time.

4:30 caught bus back to MK
Jungle Cruise (with earlier FPs)
This is one of my favorite rides. I don't care how many times I hear the corny jokes, they just crack me up. We had a terrific CM.

Space Mountain (with earlier FPs)
This was another disaster. You can't sit together and it ended up with Bella in the front, then me, then Emma, then Traci. Bella somehow first got caught in the door closing - that keeps the next person from getting too close to the car. That freaked her out. She was very unhappy during the ride. We got off and Emma was at first gushing how great it was until she saw that Bella was crying. Then Emma started crying. Then I started crying. We all sat down on a bench until we were all cried out. Once Bella was recovered and Emma saw her sister was ok she added "but it was pretty awesome."

People Mover
Such a great ride at night during the holiday season with the castle all lit up!

6:42 heading to our 6:55 CRT check-in. The park closed at 7p for the MVMCP which we weren't doing.

7:00 Pictures with Cinderella. She was gracious and lovely and the girls were enchanted.

IMG_2901.jpg

7:30 Finally seated for dinner. In hindsight this dinner was too late for the girls.

7:43 Snow White
IMG_2912.jpg

There was a special menu for the MVMCP night. I ordered the Seafood Pasta. "Crab and Crawfish with Pancetta, Spinach, Mushrooms, and Pappardelle Pasta laced with a White Wine Cream Sauce". I can write that because our kind waiter gave me a copy of the special menu as well as the regular dinner menu to take home.

IMG_2915.jpg

Traci had the Roasted Beef Tenderloin. "Sliced Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Duchess Potatoes, Asparagus, and a Chausser Sauce".

IMG_2916.jpg

Emma had the Pork Three Ways. "Pulled Pork with a Bacon and Andouille "Etouffee" Sauce served with Spoon Bread topped with Swiss Chard".

IMG_2917.jpg

Bella had to eat off the children's menu and had a steak. The food was excellent. I'd seen bad reviews but really, there was nothing to find fault with with any of the meals.

Aurora, Ariel, and Belle made the rounds. All took plenty of time to talk with the girls. Emma made sure Bella showed each her special 'light up' crown.

[pfalcioni]

I so want to go and see the Osborne lights and all the rest of the Christmas decorations! With hubby as a UPS driver, it's pretty much a pipe dream until he retires though.

[ellie]

8:07 Princesses done visiting.

The others all went off to the restroom just when our waiter brought out the special dessert, with Bella's candle lit. And no one was there but me! He was a good sport and brought everything to the back and tried again in a few minutes.

I had pre-ordered the chocolate slipper desserts as a special surprise for the girls.

IMG_2928.jpg

You can order either chocolate or white chocolate slipper. Bella decided she wanted the chocolate one so Emma ended up with the candle.

IMG_2929.jpg

Full and tired we headed downstairs where we were assigned a CM to escort us around the MVMCP madness on Main Street. We didn't take any offense at this as she knew the quickest way to the front and we were quite ready to head home. She held each of the girls hands and talked with them about home schooling as she had been and they were being home schooled. They had her complete attention and I think they liked her as much as any of the princesses!

9:00 Finally at the front of the park. It was a late night. We took a bus home.

[ellie]

IMG_2900.jpg

This was my first time at the holidays. I'm going back this Dec for my first MVMCP! Definitely looking forward to seeing the Osborne Lights again and planning on visiting all the deluxe resorts to see their decorations.

[wgwtgb]

I'm joining in. We went at the same time last year, and you graciously headed up our PP share, if my memory serves me correctly. You guys had some great pics, from what I remember... I only kept the ones of my family. It's so nice to see the story behind the pictures. I'm building myself up to do my own trip report this time by reading as many as I can... LOL

[Rogue 35]

Thanks for the trip report, we will be going right around the same time this year, so this is especially helpfull to me. :)

[ellie]

It was a late night and an early morning. Luckily I was the only morning bather. There was slight trouble getting Bella awake even with the promise of the Pooh characters at breakfast. But it was basically get the clothes on and get rolling. This breakfast wasn't just for the girls. My friend Traci loves Pooh and Tigger too.

7:25a caught MK breakfast bus
7:48a in breakfast line at park
7:51a walking down empty Main Street!

Traci and the girls stopped to take pictures and I headed right to the Crystal Palace check-in podium where I was first in line. We didn't have to wait long to get seated.

The buffet was very good. Lots of choices for everyone. Nothing particularly stood out as wonderful but solid tasty filling breakfast.

8:15a Pooh! You can tell that many tables are still empty.

IMG_2939.jpg

8:19a Eeyore! He's my favorite. I love his tail.

IMG_2950.jpg

8:38a Piglet! These characters do a great job signing the autograph books with their costumed hands - we had the large retractable Sharpie pens.

IMG_2954.jpg

8:45a Tigger just had time to sign the autograph books before he was called off for a group event. He indicated he'd be back.

8:53a Tigger back! From all the hugs you can tell this character breakfast was totally worth it.

IMG_2969.jpg

Bella got a card signed from all the characters for her birthday celebration.
The girls were beaming at the end of breakfast. Smiles all around.

9:15a on Dumbo! Second loading. The day was off to a great start.

[beachta1]

Loving the trip report, can't wait to hear the rest :)

[ellie]

We continued with
It's a Small World
Mickey's PhilharMagic

We tried to ride BTMRR again but both the mountains were closed. So glad we had gotten them done yesterday.

Haunted Mansion
Pirates of the Caribbean

10:35a Frontier Donald had no line.

IMG_2984.jpg

We took a break. Traci and the girls had ice cream floats.

Enchanted Tiki Room At least I didn't torture them with Country Bears like I did my DBF in May. It's hard for me to sit through this one.

11:40a Aladdin and Jasmine were greeting together.

IMG_2986.jpg

We ran into some bears, Brer Rabbit, and a cow? Not sure who/what this character is. There was a frontier hoedown with dancing in the streets.


IMG_2992.jpg

We started heading out for our break. Saw the horse drawn trolley coming down Main Street at noon.
Traci and the girls are big horse people.

IMG_2996.jpg

We obtained a FP for Mickey to use later when we returned.

Unexpectedly. Hula hoops! The girls still had energy so they hula hooped while Traci and I sat and rested. They did a pretty good job. I can make the hoop go around maybe twice before it falls to the ground.

HULA.jpg

12:20 Caught the resort monorail to the Grand Floridian to visit the decorations there on our way back to POFQ.

[pfalcioni]

The cow is Clarabelle, a seriously old school character that Walt created (back in the 1920's I think??), I can remember a few cartoons with her in them, she's Minnies friend.

edit--- or wait, is that her beau Horace?

[ellie]

After a quick but fun monorail ride partway around the lagoon we arrived at the Grand Floridian. My DBR and I stayed here in May 2011 so he could have a balcony to sit on, drink coffee, and read the morning e-newspaper. I loved that it was so close to my favorite park, the MK. Also good for viewing the Electric Water Pageant. However, we had the worst neighbors. A couple who were fighting, yelling, and bandying threats of divorce one night and a party - the doorway was even propped open to easily admit the dozens of folk attending, which made it easy for me to just walk in unannounced and politely ask for the music volume to be turned down. Never heard a peep from any neighbors at POFQ.

The GF Gingerbread House and tree are definitely worth the time for a visit. It's on my itinerary again this year.

IMG_3018.jpg

The gals manning the shop of goodies were very friendly. We were too full to buy anything but they have simple gingerbread to fully decorated gingerbread houses for sale.

IMG_3004.jpg

There is a lot of detail to take in.

IMG_3007.jpg

Very large tree. Normal sized 8 year old Bella for scale.

IMG_3014.jpg