DaveF
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2018
I’ve never done a trip report before, but thought I’d give it a shot.
I’ll post one day at a time to see how it goes, and add some pics as I go.
Enjoy!
June 9th-17th
Six in our group:
Me, Wife, 2 daughters 17 and 13 are flying in from PA.
Gram and Pap are driving in from DE.
Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.
Last time we visited the World was 2011, so a good bit has changed since then.
Pre-planning was more intense this time - new attractions, all the FP+ to get, touring plans, etc. I’m a planner, so I enjoyed all of that. It was a temporary part-time job.
Day 1 - travel/check-in day, Epcot
The four of us flew in to Sanford on Allegiant, only direct flight option from our local airport in Harrisburg, PA (for now anyways, Frontier is coming here in August direct to MCO).
It was basically the first time flying for our daughters, so they were excited for that.
We rented a car and drove the hour to WDW, stopping along the way for supplies. Wanted to check out the Character Warehouse store at the outlets, so I dropped the wife and kids there while I went to Publix. They were unimpressed with the store, limited selections and crowded. A place like that could be hit or miss day to day I’d imagine.
My parents drove in and arrived at POR before us. We met them at the lobby entrance as they were chatting with the greeter there. He was an older gentleman from Philadelphia, named Birdie. He was very friendly and entertaining with his stories and jokes. He even told a joke that we have only ever heard Pap say (who was there) - “I’m 90 years old, I’d be 91 but I was sick a year”. We all had a great laugh when he said that. It was a perfect way to start our stay there.
The lobby was very nice as expected.
We received our custom magic bands at home, but they had an extra set of gray ones there for us also.
Rooms were not ready until close to 5:00, maybe because I had requested certain rooms based on the recommendation of Touring Plans. We didn’t get the exact rooms, but did get the correct building and floor. No complaints with that except the delay.
We had planned to be at Epcot around 4:00. Had FP for photos with Mickey to take care of that right away and for FEA, but we missed both of them. Had to hussle to get to our ADR at Via Napoli at 6:50, made it just in time. Enjoyed a good meal there, although the pizza wasn’t as fantastic as I thought is was 7 years ago. Still good though.
We were strolling around after dinner deciding where to watch Illuminations, and a CM saw us and told us to go in to the roped off handicapped area that she was attending to. Maybe because the park wasn’t too crowded or since we had our parents walking with us? Regardless, it was nice of her and we got a nice spot by the rail for the show.
Had a casual walk out, stopping at Mouse Gear for some shopping and photo with SE. Minimal wait for the bus ride.
I’ll post one day at a time to see how it goes, and add some pics as I go.
Enjoy!
June 9th-17th
Six in our group:
Me, Wife, 2 daughters 17 and 13 are flying in from PA.
Gram and Pap are driving in from DE.
Stayed at Port Orleans Riverside.
Last time we visited the World was 2011, so a good bit has changed since then.
Pre-planning was more intense this time - new attractions, all the FP+ to get, touring plans, etc. I’m a planner, so I enjoyed all of that. It was a temporary part-time job.
Day 1 - travel/check-in day, Epcot
The four of us flew in to Sanford on Allegiant, only direct flight option from our local airport in Harrisburg, PA (for now anyways, Frontier is coming here in August direct to MCO).
It was basically the first time flying for our daughters, so they were excited for that.
We rented a car and drove the hour to WDW, stopping along the way for supplies. Wanted to check out the Character Warehouse store at the outlets, so I dropped the wife and kids there while I went to Publix. They were unimpressed with the store, limited selections and crowded. A place like that could be hit or miss day to day I’d imagine.
My parents drove in and arrived at POR before us. We met them at the lobby entrance as they were chatting with the greeter there. He was an older gentleman from Philadelphia, named Birdie. He was very friendly and entertaining with his stories and jokes. He even told a joke that we have only ever heard Pap say (who was there) - “I’m 90 years old, I’d be 91 but I was sick a year”. We all had a great laugh when he said that. It was a perfect way to start our stay there.
The lobby was very nice as expected.
We received our custom magic bands at home, but they had an extra set of gray ones there for us also.
Rooms were not ready until close to 5:00, maybe because I had requested certain rooms based on the recommendation of Touring Plans. We didn’t get the exact rooms, but did get the correct building and floor. No complaints with that except the delay.
We had planned to be at Epcot around 4:00. Had FP for photos with Mickey to take care of that right away and for FEA, but we missed both of them. Had to hussle to get to our ADR at Via Napoli at 6:50, made it just in time. Enjoyed a good meal there, although the pizza wasn’t as fantastic as I thought is was 7 years ago. Still good though.
We were strolling around after dinner deciding where to watch Illuminations, and a CM saw us and told us to go in to the roped off handicapped area that she was attending to. Maybe because the park wasn’t too crowded or since we had our parents walking with us? Regardless, it was nice of her and we got a nice spot by the rail for the show.
Had a casual walk out, stopping at Mouse Gear for some shopping and photo with SE. Minimal wait for the bus ride.