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 )
*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

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!