February 2017 at Port Orleans French Quarter: Pre-Trip Report

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Allie's picture
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February 2017 at Port Orleans French Quarter: Pre-Trip Report

FastPasses are secured, online check in is done, and the trip is paid off so only one thing left to check off at this point: the Pre-Trip report!

US

Me
I'm a 28 year old accountant, Disney lover, overplanner, theater nerd. Disney favorites include Little Mermaid, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, Finding Nemo the Musical, Grey Goose Slushes, margaritas at La Cava, Kona Cafe, Yorkshire County Fish Shop (I dream of that fish and no fried fish here stands up to it), bloody mary's at the Dawa Bar, bread service at Sanaa...should I keep going? Things I'm most excited about this trip are Homecoming, our first dinner at Be Our Guest (we've done lunch a few times), D-Luxe Burger, and Epcot's new International Festival of the Arts. This is right up my alley.

Jon
A 36 year old data processor, Disney lover in a much more laid back/chill kind of way, that puts up with my crazy like a pro. Disney favorites are Aladdin, Soarin, Yak & Yeti, Turf Club, and Captain Cook's (all favorites of mine too, by the way, but I thought I'd leave him something). Things he's most excited about this trip? Low crowds and tame weather probably. Oh, and Soarin' Around the World.

Penny
A three year old Disney FANATIC. She has been able to name even the most obscure Disney characters since she could talk. She loves princesses and has also gotten into Jungle Book, Inside Out, and Tarzan as of late so those are all on the list for meet and greets this time around. Disney favorites include Rapunzel, Cinderella, Belle, chicken strips (we try to expose her to as much as possible but this is her favorite standby), Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, Prince Charming Royal Carousel, and meeting characters. Things she's most excited about this trip: Frozen Ever After, meeting Tarzan/Baloo/King Louie/Alice/Mad Hatter/Joy/Sadness/Olaf, the sea monster water slide at POFQ, dinner with the Beast, breakfast at Crystal Palace.

The Rundown

We are staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for the first time this trip which I'm SUPER excited about. We could have gotten a better discount with the Play/Stay/Dine if we switched to Riverside but I really had my heart set on French Quarter so we decided to stick it out. Something about the intimacy of this resort really draws me, and the thought of having beignets a few steps out my doorstep doesn't hurt, either.

Everything underlined below is a new restaurant or experience for us!

Saturday, February 4th

*We have a 6:25am flight out of Minneapolis where we will hopefully do a LOT of sleeping on the plane before we land at 12:20pm
*Head to the resort to drop off our carry ons and then off to Epcot
*Seas with Nemo and Friends Fastpass 2:15pm - 3:15pm (this has been Penny's first ride every trip so we've got to keep with tradition)
*Penny goes down for a nap while we graze the festival and ride Soarin' Around the World with the child swap
*Frozen Ever Fastpass 4:40pm - 5:40pm
*Living with the Land FastPass 5:45pm - 6:45pm
*Meet with Joy and Sadness at some point
*Dinner at Chefs de France 7:00pm
*Calling it a night after dinner since we were up early and have an early morning the next day

Sunday, February 5th
*Crystal Place at 8:30am
*Cinderella/Princess Elena Fastpass 9:10am - 10:10am (never met Elena)
*Rapunzel/Tiana Fastpass 10:10am - 11:10am
*Seven Dwarfs Fastpass 11:15am - 12:15pm (Penny is currently about a 1/2 inch too short so we're hoping she'll sprout before then but if not we'll change this to probably Winnie the Pooh or Haunted Mansion)
*Probably corn dog nuggets at Casey's for Penny for lunch and then Jon and I might swing over to the Kona Island for some sushi while she's napping in the stroller
*Pecos Bills for dinner (we love that toppings bar!)
*Penny's first time seeing Wishes

Monday, February 6th
*Toy Story Mania Fastpass 9:30am - 10:30am
*Voyage of the Little Mermaid Fastpass 10:30am - 10:45am for the 10:50am show
*Lunch at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic dinner package at 11:50am
*Frozen Sing-along Fastpass 1:00pm - 1:15pm for the 1:30pm show
*Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Rollercoaster with child swap while Penny naps
*Meet with Moana and Olaf at some point
*Dinner at PizzeRizzo
*Fantasmic at 7pm (Penny's first time)
*Maybe trying out Sassagoula's new menu items for a late night snack

Tuesday, February 7th
*Sleep in! (never done that in Disney before eek laugh )
*Beignets at Sassagoula
*Morning swim in the pool if it is warm enough out
*Lunch at D-Luxe Burger
*Have to check out Uniqulo!!!
*Maybe heading back to the resort for naptime today so that Penny gets an actual good nap in one of the days there
*Head back to Disney Springs once Penny wakes up (or swim in the pool a bit if it was too cold in the morning)
*Homecoming for dinner at 7pm

Wednesday, February 8th
*Beignets at Sassagoula
*Enchanted Tales with Belle Fastpass 9:00am - 10:00am
*Peter Pan's Flight Fastpass 10:00am - 11:00am
*Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Fastpass 11:00am - 12:00pm (again, we'll switch this out if Penny's not tall enough)
*Contempo Cafe for lunch
*Dinner at Be Our Guest at 7:05pm
*Staying for EMH with Penny for her first time. She's usually in bed by 8pm and with 10pm EMH it will be 9pm our time when we leave so we'll see how that goes!

Thursday, February 9th
*Planning on sleeping in a bit today since we will have been out "late" the night before
*Lunch at Tusker House at 11:15am
*Festival of the Lion King Fastpass 12:30pm - 12:45 for the 1:00pm show
*Kilimanjaro Safaris Fastpass 1:35pm - 2:35pm
*Meet with Tarzan and Baloo/King Louie at some point
*Search for DiVine while Penny is napping (still have yet to find her and this is on Jon's Disney bucket list)
*Finding Nemo the Musical Fastpass 4:30pm - 4:45pm
*Dinner at Yak & Yeti QS
*Tree of Life Awakenings
*Ride Expedition Everest in the dark with child swap
*Hopefully try out Kilimanjaro Safaris at night if time allows, but we're not prioritizing this

Friday, February 10th
*Rope drop Epcot for Frozen Ever After and Anna and Elsa meet
*Breakfast at Captain's Grille at 9:45am
*Frozen Ever After Fastpass 11:05am - 12:05am (might switch this for Soarin' if Penny isn't super into the ride since we'll have already gone twice, but knowing my daughter she is obsessive with the rides she likes....we rode Under the Sea five times last trip!)
*Imagination with Figment Fastpass 12:05pm - 1:05pm
*Spaceship Earth Fastpass 1:10pm - 2:10pm
*Lunch at Sunshine Seasons
*Hopefully some more International Festival of the Arts grazing while Penny naps
*Tragical Express around 4pm for our 7pm flight out of Orlando. We'll do dinner at the airport and then land back in Minneapolis at 11pm sad sad sad

As always, I said I'd take it easy this trip but, as always, I can't help but overplan. Besides our dining reservations though we're pretty ok with throwing the plans out the window if need be. I'm DYING with anticipation! February can not get here soon enough!

JMed's picture
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Sounds like a great plan! I am so excited to see more Penny videos!!!

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Sounds like a great trip! Sorry we miss you guys by a week.

We're also trying Homecoming this time and I hope to try D-luxe burger as well. You will LOVE Soarin' - remember to ask for the middle section as the movie is a little distorted from the side sections. wink

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Allie, you will love POFQ. I like it POFQ because it is intimate and quaint. My girlfriend and I are planning on staying there again when we go in 2018. Enjoy your time there. Can't wait to see videos of the three of you.

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Sounds great. Hope we can meet up on the 10th. I should be able to get to Epcot while you are still there.

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JMed wrote:
Sounds like a great plan! I am so excited to see more Penny videos!!!

Thanks! I'm excited about our Mama Melrose reservation based solely on your review yay

JanJ wrote:
Sounds like a great trip! Sorry we miss you guys by a week.

We're also trying Homecoming this time and I hope to try D-luxe burger as well. You will LOVE Soarin' - remember to ask for the middle section as the movie is a little distorted from the side sections. wink

Ugh I know! What a bummer! I seem to just narrowly avoid everyone with every trip we go on! I'm super excited to try Homecoming, D-Luxe, and Soarin'! Thanks for the tip! Jon and I will be child swapping it so hopefully it will be easy to get a request with only one person at a time.

PirateGirl wrote:
Allie, you will love POFQ. I like it POFQ because it is intimate and quaint. My girlfriend and I are planning on staying there again when we go in 2018. Enjoy your time there. Can't wait to see videos of the three of you.

Yay! I'm so excited! We've never stayed at either of the PO resorts so I've been really pumped about it! It looks beautiful

JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds great. Hope we can meet up on the 10th. I should be able to get to Epcot while you are still there.

Sounds great! awesome

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We just stayed at POFQ for the first time, and I loved it so much! The size of the resort blew me away, and it was much welcomed after a long night at the parks. Can't wait to see your trip report!

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NikkiMouse wrote:
We just stayed at POFQ for the first time, and I loved it so much! The size of the resort blew me away, and it was much welcomed after a long night at the parks. Can't wait to see your trip report!

That's great to hear! I can't wait! yay

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Ahhhhhh Mama Melrose!!! Great! Now I want that steak!

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"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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Allie wrote:
JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds great. Hope we can meet up on the 10th. I should be able to get to Epcot while you are still there.

Sounds great! awesome

I have a fast pass for spaceship earth from 1:00 - 2:00. hope I can make it there so we can ride together.

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Awesome Sauce! I'm jealous of your trip. I don't have anything planned for World anytime soon Sad
looking forward to your pics and posts Smile

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Sounds like a great trip planned Allie as usual! cant wait to see all you guys get up to! I also agree with others about Soarin' even if you have to wait, wait for the middle section we did everytime we rode and believe me you will not regret its worth the little wait if you have to!

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JoAnn C wrote:
Allie wrote:
JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds great. Hope we can meet up on the 10th. I should be able to get to Epcot while you are still there.

Sounds great! awesome

I have a fast pass for spaceship earth from 1:00 - 2:00. hope I can make it there so we can ride together.

Sounds like a plan awesome

DisneyDee27 wrote:
Awesome Sauce! I'm jealous of your trip. I don't have anything planned for World anytime soon Sad
looking forward to your pics and posts Smile

Better get planning wink In all seriousness though, it feels like it has been waaaaaaay too long since I've been there (though it's currently only been about 8 months laugh ) so I lived vicariously through you all that were down in October. Happy to provide the same service!

amy1989 wrote:
Sounds like a great trip planned Allie as usual! cant wait to see all you guys get up to! I also agree with others about Soarin' even if you have to wait, wait for the middle section we did everytime we rode and believe me you will not regret its worth the little wait if you have to!

Will do! awesome It's not to late too plan a meet up if you just so happen to be down there! wink laugh

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Allie if I had the money and the annual leave at work I would be there in a heartbeat!!! laugh

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Sounds like an amazing trip! Hopefully Penny will grow that bit extra for 7DMT. Can't wait to read all about it Smile

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Honestly, I haven't measured her with shoes on so she might be closer then we think. If not, she's been talking about Barnstormer non-stop since we left last time so I'm sure she'll make do with that Smile

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23 days to go and I think we've decided to switch out our quick service credits we were going to use at Sunshine Season for three snack credits a piece to use at International Festival of the Arts. There's too much I want to try to fit it all in! The deconstructed BLT, trio of savory croissant doughnuts, pomeganate mule, shrimp ceviche, sous vide venison, and pan-seared scallop are all on the must do list with about 12 other items on the want list.

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Allie wrote:
trio of savory croissant doughnuts

I know, right.

And don't forget the croissant doughnut filled with pastry cream at Refreshment Port! awesome

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Allie wrote:
23 days to go and I think we've decided to switch out our quick service credits we were going to use at Sunshine Season for three snack credits a piece to use at International Festival of the Arts. There's too much I want to try to fit it all in! The deconstructed BLT, trio of savory croissant doughnuts, pomeganate mule, shrimp ceviche, sous vide venison, and pan-seared scallop are all on the must do list with about 12 other items on the want list.

I was going to have dinner at Jiko on my arrival day. I am going to stay in Epcot to eat at some of the booths for dinner. I signed up for the annual passholder seating for the Broadway series show that night.

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JoAnn C wrote:
Allie wrote:
23 days to go and I think we've decided to switch out our quick service credits we were going to use at Sunshine Season for three snack credits a piece to use at International Festival of the Arts. There's too much I want to try to fit it all in! The deconstructed BLT, trio of savory croissant doughnuts, pomeganate mule, shrimp ceviche, sous vide venison, and pan-seared scallop are all on the must do list with about 12 other items on the want list.

I was going to have dinner at Jiko on my arrival day. I am going to stay in Epcot to eat at some of the booths for dinner. I signed up for the annual passholder seating for the Broadway series show that night.

Giving up Jiko is a bigger sacrifice then my giving up Sunshine Seasons, I suppose laugh

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Allie wrote:
JoAnn C wrote:
Allie wrote:
JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds great. Hope we can meet up on the 10th. I should be able to get to Epcot while you are still there.

Sounds great! awesome

I have a fast pass for spaceship earth from 1:00 - 2:00. hope I can make it there so we can ride together.

Sounds like a plan awesome

My flight time changed and is scheduled to land 15 minutes earlier. If I don't have too much of wait for the magical express, I should be at Epcot by 1:30 at the latest.

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Awesome!

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Magic Bands are here and decorated suitcases are (mostly ) packed, and we're ready to go! One week from today we should be at Port Orleans French Quarter by now!

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Allie,

Are they the new style magicbands? We should be getting ours anyday now.. awesome mickey

Allie wrote:
Magic Bands are here and decorated suitcases are (mostly ) packed, and we're ready to go! One week from today we should be at Port Orleans French Quarter by now!

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Yup, they are sending exclusively the 2.0s now.

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Great news!! Thanks!!

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Allie wrote:
Yup, they are sending exclusively the 2.0s now.

I saw quite a few people with the 2.0's on, but ours were still the old ones. They were shipped to the resort 5 days before we arrived, so they were still getting rid of the old ones as of January 16th. I had my fingers crossed for the new bands, but we'll get them next trip.

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JanJ wrote:
Allie wrote:
Yup, they are sending exclusively the 2.0s now.

I saw quite a few people with the 2.0's on, but ours were still the old ones. They were shipped to the resort 5 days before we arrived, so they were still getting rid of the old ones as of January 16th. I had my fingers crossed for the new bands, but we'll get them next trip.

Oh that's weird! We received ours well before the 16th and they were 2.0s

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We got the new ones for our Annual Pass bands but the old ones for the trip we had last week.
the AP bands came a week before the trip bands.

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Ours (Magic Bands) were both mailed on the 30th of Jan., so we'll see what surprise we have in the boxes.. One box is for reservation at SSR and the other is for AP's. We'll see if they are different.. eek confused

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Safe travels, by the way, Allie and family!! Keep us posted on the happenings while there..
awesome