UPDATED Preston's Birthday Trip "FUN OVERLOAD" Report from 8/8 - 8/13, A month later....

HI everyone! I know this is a month later, but being a teacher and all, August is a super busy month! I finally had a chance to sit down and write some of this, so here it goes! I hope you enjoy!

WHEN: WED 8/8/12 - MON 8/13/12

WHERE: From Delaware to WDW. Stayed at Port Orleans, Riverside, in a Royal Guest Room.

WHO: Myself, Kacie, age 25 and boyfriend Preston, age 23. Special appearences by sister Cheyenne (who is a CM) age 23, and her friend Becky.

WHY: To celebrate Preston's birthday! FUN OVERLOAD

Day One: Wednesday, August 8th

Preston and I awoke at 5:00 am and were on the road, driven by a friend, to BWI. It's about an hour drive. We were running a bit late because of some camera issues, but once we were on the road, the champagne came out and I had a mimosa. Preston finished the bottle off and vacation began.

We arrived at the airport at 7ish. Our flight was at 8:20 and the line to check a bag was long. I was starting to get stressed, but my buzzed boyfriend was unconcerned. After a 1/2 hour wait in the Airtran check in line, we had a convo with the check in lady that went like this:

ME: "Our flight is at 8:20, do you think we will have time to get through security?"

HER: "Honey, there is only an 8:55 and 9:15. No 8:20."

ME: "Our boarding passes say 8:20."

HER: "8:20PM."

ME: "..."

According to Preston, he could feel my anger radiating off of me. I did the bulk of the planning of this trip, and his task was to buy the airline tickets. He made them for 12 hours LATER than we had planned. I expressed in no certain terms would I spend 12 hours in the BWI airport and lose a full day of our vacation. So, the check in lady, who was surprisingly patient, got us standby on the 8:55 flight.

We went through security, complete with shenanigans that included two cranky cats, a European couple, live fish, a case of mistaken identity, Preston getting pulled into a screening but then pulled out, and me being yelled at by a TSA agent. We ran to our gate, made it, and got seats that happened to be separate. Which was fine because I needed a good 2 hours to get over being annoyed. I read Harry Potter and before I knew it, we were in sunny Orlando!

Because our flight was an hour later than we thought, we were running late for our lunch reservations at Whispering Canyon. After a quick phone call, I was able to push them 90 minutes later. The Magical Express went off without a hitch. We sat near a nice family who was on their 23rd visit! It was fun chatting with them.

We arrived at Port Orleans Riverside, who's very facade is breathtaking. We checked in, strolled through the grounds to our lovely room. We had a Royal Guest River-view room which was just lovely. It had such adorable touches, like the magic carpet, the ottoman from Beauty and the Beast, and silohette art work of all the princes. We just loved it.
My sister and her friend Becky showed up too and drove us to Wilderness Lodge for our lunch at Whispering Canyon. We had immediate resort envy. That entry is just really cool.

Now, our lunch at Whispering Canyon was....lackluster. We got Sheriff Shakes, which were amazing, but the food was just ok. At the time, we were dazzled by the atmosphere and our hunger pangs, but looking back, and comparing it to some of our later meals, it was just ok. For an app, we had the Homemade Western Chips with queso dip and I would say it was on par with something you'd get at Applebees. Not worth $11. I had the Slow-smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich which was tasty but nothing life-changing. Preston had the Meatloaf Sandwich which I thought was really good but he just thought was ok. The service was BORING! Nothing exciting happened AT ALL. We asked for ketchup and got a bottle of ketchup. That's it. It was an ok, satisfying meal, but on par with a regular chain restaurant. Not worth the Disney Big Bucks. All in all, a huge disappointment.

After lunch, we headed over to Magic Kingdom. This was Preston's first visit, mind you, and being with him while walking into Main Street, USA, with that glorious view of the castle, made me feel very warm and fuzzy. I love how Magic Kingdom always feels like home. We made a beeline for a street cart and bought ears. Preston got ones with the Sorcerer Mickey Hat, and I got gold sparkly ears that had a feather and a rose on it. We took a pic in front of the castle then headed straight for Space Mountain.

At Space Mountain, the line was a good 65 min, but it was air conditioned and we were tired from our flight, so we were ok with the downtime. The actual ride was a blast! It was my first time on it since its renovations from a few years ago, and we both loved it! By the time we got off, my sister Cheyenne had met back up with us. We walked over to Haunted Mansion and had a blast on it. I simply love that ride, and Preston did too. By the time that was done, we hopped over to EPCOT.

At EPCOT, we rode Spaceship Earth, which has been one of my favorite rides since my first visit when I was 11 in 1997. I just love the soothing, educational journey. Also, it's nice and cool. After Spaceship Earth, it was about time for our ADRs at San Angel Inn at the Mexico Pavilion. I have never eaten there, so I was super excited.
Preston and I shared at Pineapple Margarita which was DELICIOUS. We both had the traditional Mexican dinner, which included chicken tostadas, fish tacos, and a Bavarian cream dessert. The food was very yummy, and we loved how the place looked. Because Preston was wearing his birthday button, the whole staff came over, and sang Happy Birthday in Spanish, and there was a candle in his custard. That was a wonderful touch, and a great start to the birthday Disney magic treatment he got the rest of the trip.

After dinner, we jumped on the ferry over to Hollywood Studios. It was super important to Preston to see Fantasmic! our first night. There was a 10:30 showing that night. We got to DHS at about 9:45, so we killed some time by riding the Rockin Rollercoaster, which is my favorite rollercoaster ever. We sat down for Fantasmic! at 10:25 and just loved the show. I think it's really cool and Preston was dazzled.

At that point, our first day was coming to a close. It was a lot of commando style park hopping, but the theme of this trip was "FUN OVERLOAD" so we planned accordingly. We headed back to POR, and after our long day, it felt awesome to collapse in that bed.

Coming soon.... Universal Studios and Why We Will Never Go Back and A Delicious Dinner at Beaches and Cream PLUS The Funniest Ride Pic ever

[b[Before I begin Day Two's recap, I want to just preface this by saying we had SUCH an amazing time in August for Preston's birthday, we just booked a trip for my birthday in November. We are super excited (of course) and trip details will be up shortly.[/b]

Day Two: August 9th, 2012

We began our day bright and early. My sister met us at the POR lobby, where the bus announcer man in his head set made a huge deal about Preston's birthday over the intercom. That was adorable. We headed over the Polynesian for breakfast reservations at Kona Cafe.

We were struck with another case of resort envy. I'm telling you, those crazy huge deluxe resort lobbies, which their shopping mall food court-sized dining areas and gorgeous decor are just breath-taking. And while I eventually decided I wasn't crazy about the Polynesian, there is something about that first look....

Anyway, we came to Kona with one mission, and one mission only: to obtain the legendary TONGA TOAST. After we were officially lei'd (heheheh), we were seated fairly quickly at Kona. We began breakfast with a fresh French Press of the 100% Kona Coffee, which was divine. We had some trouble getting cream to our table, but the coffee was still delicious. I ordered the Samoan, Kona's take on Egg's Benedict (one of my favorite breakfasts) and Preston ordered TONGA TOAST with the strawberry compote. We then halved our entrees and shared. So we each had half of the Samoan and half of the Tonga Toast. This was hands down the best breakfast on our trip, possibly our lives. It was really delicious.

Cheyenne and I!

Now, while the food was fantastic, the service was subpar. This was our first negative experience with service at the Polynesian (more on that later). It took us 3 tries to get our cream for our coffee, and our waitress was just generally absent minded and inattentive. She was very sweet, though, and did bring Preston his first (of many) birthday cupcakes.

After Kona, we then drove over to Islands of Adventure. Parking was a nightmare. I hate the way this area looks. I felt like we were in a Universal themed mall. We rode the moving side-walks down, walked through the uber-tacky City Walk, through security (where "guest relations" gave Preston their own version of a knock-off birthday button) and into IOA.
Cheyenne led us in a beeline for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I must say, I loved the way this place looked. It felt like we stepped into the books. I loved that part. I did NOT love how crammed and claustrophobic it felt. It was only an hour after opening, and I felt like cattle in a slaughter shoot. I get it, its "AUTHENTIC" but I think authenticity may sometimes need to be sacrificed for enjoyment and crowd flow. Would anyone think Mission Space was fun if they gave you a catheter? NO. You design parks for enjoyment, not as an exercise in authenticity alone.

We hopped right on Dragon Challenge (and what in the world is up with their locker system?!) which was only a 10 minute wait. Your standard coaster, but I really liked the theming. Goblet of Fire is one of my favorite of the series, so I loved the tents and the champions theme.

After Dragon Challenge, we explored the shops a bit. In Honeydukes, Preston got a free Cauldron Cake for his birthday. It was super yummy. Overall, the shops were really cool and themed well with lots of neato stuff, they were just....so....jam....packed. At points, we could not move or walk around. I hated that. After about a half hour or so, we were ready to ride the Forbidden Journey.

Even though the wait was over 90 minutes, we really enjoyed the queue theming. The moving portraits impressed us the most.

Ok. The Forbidden Journey. Unlike any other ride ever. We had NO IDEA what to expect. I pictured a "dark ride" style train thing that showed you animatronic scenes from Harry Potter. WRONG. I think I screamed for 80% of this ride. It was super disorienting and really really cool but also really scary! When we got off the ride, we stopped to take a gander at the ride photo opp. Now, a picture is worth a thousand words so....

I think that sums up our emotions on that ride. Preston had tears in his eyes upon exiting. That photo alone made our trip to Universal worth it. We also grabbed butterbeers and pumpkin juice (oh yum).
The rest of the day consisted of Poseidon's Adventure (kinda lame, but cute), The Hulk (got right on the ride, magically), and.....a hot dog? Yeah, the lines were off the charts. It was hot. And crowded. Lots of, um, interesting people, including a young woman wearing a Spongebob bag as a shirt. So around 4:30 or so, we headed back to the safety and sanity of the World. Preston kept remarking on how everything at WDW is so clean, bright, and happier. AND HE'S RIGHT.

Back at the World, we hung out for a bit at Downtown Disney. I adore Downtown Disney. Whenever I'm in Orlando, even if I don't make it to the parks or resort, I always find time for DTD. The magic there is just contagious. The shops are fun, the food yummy and diverse, and I love people watching there. Preston and I split from my sister and her friend and grabbed a snack in Cookes of Dublin. We had their chips with the vintage cheese dip. Oh good god, we waited about 20 minutes for it but it was worth every second. Delicious.

After DTD, we drove to Beach Club and had dinner with my mother (who lives in Orlando) at Beaches and Cream. A good hour wait, but I love the feel of Beach Club. It's my dream resort. We walked the breezeways, took in the sights, chatted, and then had a lovely meal when our buzzer buzzed. Preston had a Philly Cheesesteak (called something else but that's what it was) which he declared rather authentic and tasty. I had a loaded hot dog and yum. We split a No Way Jose for dessert and it was awesome.

Another moment of Disney Magic. For his birthday, Preston not only got a cupcake, they did they signal lights, announced his bday to the whole place, the whole restaurant sang, and he got a balloon. It really made our night!
We took a stroll around the Boardwalk after dinner, which I always like to do (sadly, the DCV open house villa was closed) and then headed off to the resort. Preston and I had a late night swim at one of our quiet pools, then hit the hay.

BIRTHDAY BOY ON THE BOARDWALK!

Coming Soon... Why I love Tangerine Cafe, SOARIN' is Not Worth It, The Untold Horrors of Splash Mountain, PLUS Service at the Polynesian is Terrible Again