Cast: Julee, 27 (AKA Happy) 1st trip to WDW. John, 29 (AKA Grumpy) 1st trip to WDW
Sunday Nov. 12 (Day 1)
WDW was much different than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of forest and open land. I guess I expected all the hotels and parks to be visible from all over. I knew it was big, but on many of the roads if it werenâÂÂt for the colorful Mickey signs directing you, youâÂÂd forget youâÂÂre at Disney World.
We arrived and Port Orleans at about 11:30am and I was surprised to find out that our room was ready. My only request prior to arrival was for a smoking room. On the plane I decided to ask for building 2 or 6 since they were smoking and didnâÂÂt appear to overlook a parking lot. I was pretty sure garden views cost more, but IâÂÂd thought IâÂÂd give it a chance. The very nice Cast Member at the desk gave us a room in building 2 on the 3rd floor for no extra money. It overlooked gardens and a fountain and I was very happy. It was one of the farthest buildings from the food court and bus stop, but the resort is small so it didnâÂÂt matter much.
When we got to our room we unpacked and sat around watching TV for a bit to relax. I made John watch the Disney Resort TV stations which he was less than thrilled about. After listening to me sing Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah along with the TV for 30 minutes, John decided we should get out of the room for a bit. We decided to take a walk by the pool and then get our refillable mugs. It was a sunny day (about 75 degrees). The dragon slide pool at Port Orleans is really neat. We were also impressed by the décor of the food court. The artist in John loved the huge Mardi Gras masks hanging from the ceiling and he was inspired. For a brief second I envisioned huge paper mache âÂÂthingsâ cramped into our apartment, but I decided to let him enjoy the moment. The mugs were smaller than I expected, but I still thought they were a good deal. John drinks like a fish so I knew we would become very familiar with the food court.
Weâ¦ok Iâ¦decided we should take the boat to Downtown Disney to get some lunch and to walk around since it was the last day of the Festival of Masters (John and I are both artists). It was about 1:00 and we waited about 25 minutes for the boat. I guess they donâÂÂt run very frequently during the afternoon. It was a beautiful day so we didnâÂÂt mind sitting outside. The boat ride was very nice and we got a good view of some of the hotels and DTD. DTD was much bigger than I expected!
We walked around and looked at the artwork. There were some very impressive pieces. I wish I had more money with me because some of it was very reasonably priced. It was very crowed at Disney Market Place. I was hoping it was because of the Festival of Masters or because it was the last day of the New Jersey invasion. Because of all the people it started to get really hot. We tried and tried to find someplace to eat, but even with the map we kept hitting dead ends. I was so disorientated and I couldnâÂÂt figure out where we were. I later learned that it was because of all the artist tents that were set up and that DTD isnâÂÂt really that confusing to navigate.
ItâÂÂs sometimes hard for us to find places to eat since we are⦠umm how should I say itâ¦quasi-vegetarians. Outside of hamburgers, IâÂÂm very picky about the meat I eat. IâÂÂd much prefer to not eat it at all. I eat SOME chicken but thatâÂÂs about the extent of it. John only eats chicken. We decided to eat at Planet Hollywood because it was the first place we saw that had something we would both eat. The restaurant was really cool. We had a very yummy spinach parmesan dip for an appetizer. I had a tasty hamburger and John had an average portabello mushroom sandwich. After we were done eating we walked around the restaurant looking at the memorabilia. By this time it was about 3:30 so we decided to take the boat back to the hotel for a nap and then return later to go to DisneyQuest. John loves video games so I figured going to DQ first would get him in the vacation mood. So far my plans were on track!
Sunday Nov. 12 (Day 1)
WDW was much different than I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of forest and open land. I guess I expected all the hotels and parks to be visible from all over. I knew it was big, but on many of the roads if it werenâÂÂt for the colorful Mickey signs directing you, youâÂÂd forget youâÂÂre at Disney World.
We arrived and Port Orleans at about 11:30am and I was surprised to find out that our room was ready. My only request prior to arrival was for a smoking room. On the plane I decided to ask for building 2 or 6 since they were smoking and didnâÂÂt appear to overlook a parking lot. I was pretty sure garden views cost more, but IâÂÂd thought IâÂÂd give it a chance. The very nice Cast Member at the desk gave us a room in building 2 on the 3rd floor for no extra money. It overlooked gardens and a fountain and I was very happy. It was one of the farthest buildings from the food court and bus stop, but the resort is small so it didnâÂÂt matter much.
When we got to our room we unpacked and sat around watching TV for a bit to relax. I made John watch the Disney Resort TV stations which he was less than thrilled about. After listening to me sing Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah along with the TV for 30 minutes, John decided we should get out of the room for a bit. We decided to take a walk by the pool and then get our refillable mugs. It was a sunny day (about 75 degrees). The dragon slide pool at Port Orleans is really neat. We were also impressed by the décor of the food court. The artist in John loved the huge Mardi Gras masks hanging from the ceiling and he was inspired. For a brief second I envisioned huge paper mache âÂÂthingsâ cramped into our apartment, but I decided to let him enjoy the moment. The mugs were smaller than I expected, but I still thought they were a good deal. John drinks like a fish so I knew we would become very familiar with the food court.
Weâ¦ok Iâ¦decided we should take the boat to Downtown Disney to get some lunch and to walk around since it was the last day of the Festival of Masters (John and I are both artists). It was about 1:00 and we waited about 25 minutes for the boat. I guess they donâÂÂt run very frequently during the afternoon. It was a beautiful day so we didnâÂÂt mind sitting outside. The boat ride was very nice and we got a good view of some of the hotels and DTD. DTD was much bigger than I expected!
We walked around and looked at the artwork. There were some very impressive pieces. I wish I had more money with me because some of it was very reasonably priced. It was very crowed at Disney Market Place. I was hoping it was because of the Festival of Masters or because it was the last day of the New Jersey invasion. Because of all the people it started to get really hot. We tried and tried to find someplace to eat, but even with the map we kept hitting dead ends. I was so disorientated and I couldnâÂÂt figure out where we were. I later learned that it was because of all the artist tents that were set up and that DTD isnâÂÂt really that confusing to navigate.
ItâÂÂs sometimes hard for us to find places to eat since we are⦠umm how should I say itâ¦quasi-vegetarians. Outside of hamburgers, IâÂÂm very picky about the meat I eat. IâÂÂd much prefer to not eat it at all. I eat SOME chicken but thatâÂÂs about the extent of it. John only eats chicken. We decided to eat at Planet Hollywood because it was the first place we saw that had something we would both eat. The restaurant was really cool. We had a very yummy spinach parmesan dip for an appetizer. I had a tasty hamburger and John had an average portabello mushroom sandwich. After we were done eating we walked around the restaurant looking at the memorabilia. By this time it was about 3:30 so we decided to take the boat back to the hotel for a nap and then return later to go to DisneyQuest. John loves video games so I figured going to DQ first would get him in the vacation mood. So far my plans were on track!
