Magic Mirror's January DISNEYmoon Trip Report

Port Orleans French Quarters-Reservations-Credit Cards-Room Location:

We booked our "home" during the early winter sales & received 30% off.
This placed our cost at $147 per night during the week (not including taxes,etc.).
It required the $200 deposit down at the time of booking and the remainder of our
balance (around $1000) was not due until we physically arrived at Disney. Although
we could have chosen to pay any amount on it as we went along.

Park Tickets were purchased through Disney online. Food was paid out of pocket on our own.

We did online registration prior to our arrival via the computer Disney Experience website.
I had attached our Disney Visa to our registration prior to our arrival so it would be connected
to our magic bands for food and gift purchases.

I had brought our Bank Debit/Credit Card with to pay off the room balance when we checked in.

What I didn't know was that Disney paid off our room the morning of our arrival, before we got there,
with the Disney Visa because it was attached to our online registration. I was shocked when we arrived
and checked in to find out they had done this as I had not read anything about this policy on our Disney
Mail and pre-arrival instructions. They reversed the charges and I called Disney Visa to confirm the reversal
and had them release the funds hold so I could use the card immediately. It all went smooth from there.

When placing the reservations I had booked a Garden View Room and put in a special request to have
building 1 or building 2 facing the rose & fountain garden. While these rooms are farther from the main
lobby they are closer to the river and the ferry. I intended to follow up about 3 weeks before our trip by
faxing the main resort directly, but having been off work sick it never happened. I was extremely happy
to find out we had been placed in building 1, main floor, centered on the rose garden fountain!

We love, love, love the quaint, romantic, small cobblestone streets of the French Quarters!

Port Orleans * French Quarters

Mousekeeping:

Our Mousekeeper for the entire week was Maryann. While I never got to meet her, I was so pleased with the room! It was spotless, and she left a towel animal for us every single day! In addition to her Mousekeeping envelopes/tip, I hand wrote a personal thank you to her towards the end of our stay and she left an additional stash of Mickey soaps & shampoos.

Here are 4 of the towel animals....the rest I still have to find & upload

Suitcase room was at a premium, but I did take the little bird home in my carry on.

Disney Magical Express and Alternate Disney Transportation:

We flew into Sanford Orlando International Airport. Disney does not offer the Magical Express and transportation is on your own. Disney will offer to help make travel arrangements but they operate thru Mears Transportation.

I checked into various options, including renting a car, hiring a sedan or taking a taxi. Sanford is about one hour from Disney. We had to leave at 03:30am in the morning. I found out that, with the exception of renting a car which was around $240 for the full week, other transportation was running around $100-130 a vehicle (not per person). One Way. That did not include a premium charge of operating after 11pm or before 6am and it did not include an expected tip of 18-20%. A one way trip back to the airport would have cost us around $150.

Luckily, our friend who lives in Orlando picked us up and dropped us off. While Orlando International is closer to Disney, it has certainly made me appreciate the value that is offered by having the Magical Express from Orlando International.

Port Orleans French Quarter - Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory - Quick Service:

On our arrival day we were starving by the time we got checked in so we headed right to the quick service at the resort. We were going to meet friends in Downtown Disney in about three hours, so we opted to get the Pasta with Meatballs and split the dish between us ($9.29). It was a really nice size dinner plate of spaghetti with super large meatballs. The red marinara was awesome and it came with a large garlic breadstick. I was surprised the spaghetti was al dente, as it seems it would be hard to keep pasta fresh, but it turned out really good!

Later in the week we would return twice for the fresh, made to order goodness of Beignets! (6 for $4.29)

On our last day we stopped and picked up two Cheesesteak Sandwiches ($9.49 each). They were huge and we realized we should have split one. They were made to order, thin slices of juicy steak and I had green pepper and onion (both of which were finely chopped and grilled along with my meat) - Amy had hers with just the meat and cheese. You can watch through clear glass while they cook up your food. As the meat was almost done they added the cheese to lightly melt and toasted our buns on the grill. The second helper dropped our french fries so by the time the sandwiches were coming out the fries also were being dished out hot and fresh. The fries were remarkable and the best we had at Disney! The outside was lightly crunchy while the inside was slightly soft. YUM!

Food always tastes better in Disney Glad we could hook up a few times!

Be Our Guest - Lunch Fast Pass:

We pre-booked BOG via the website previously mentioned by this wonderful blog forum!
I had tried for Dinner so we could meet the Beast, but was never able to get it.

We decided to pre-order our food as I had read several reviews showing those who didn't
pre-order, got stuck in a line at a kiosk to get their order placed.

Amy is not very adventurous with her food palate, and French Food is even more unappealing to her,
so in light of this- we decided to order off the Children's Menu but added dessert and more soup to our order.
I played with the thought of seeing if they would make an Adult Grilled Cheese upon our arrival but knowing
how busy this place is and the throngs of people waiting outside to try to get in, I felt guilty delaying our time
there even longer by trying a special menu, for of all things, a grill cheese sandwich.

Amy had the Kids Grill Cheese with Tomato Soup. The website shows it is served with Green Beans but
but the website allowed substitutions of Pommes Frites (french fries) or yogurt so she had the fries.

I had the Kids Seared Mahi Mahi which came with a small favor paper dish with a couple cherry tomatoes, a broccoli piece, ranch dressing and two cucumber spears..also french fries.

Both were artfully displayed and a small dish of ketchup was served on the side. Amy said the Grill Cheese was very good although she would have liked it if they had kept on the crust as that is her favorite part . The fries were good on both but the Tomato Soup was very bland, Campbell's might even have more taste. (having had the Tomato Basil Soup at Pinnochio Haus last year, it was a whole lot better tasting). As it was a Kids Meal, it was not overly large in serving size but certainly enough when combined with the dessert and additional soup.

The seared Mahi Mahi was cool when it arrived, but that is a common problem with seared fish if it can't be served immediately. It had a very strong fish smell but upon tasting it, it wasn't too bad. Certainly more fishy tasting than other Mahi I have had but not so strong I couldn't eat it. Amy tasted it and it was too fishy for her.

The French Onion Soup - AWESOME! I had gone back and forth about ordering the soup but I am so glad I did. It was filled with sweet onions, bread and perfectly baked on cheese. EVERY spoonful we took had something other than broth in it. They were more than generous with the onions and cheese. It is the Best French Onion Soup I've had anywhere!

For dessert Amy had the Chocolate Cream Puff filled with Chocolate Mousse topped with Whip Cream and I had the Eclair a l'Orange (custard filing with zested orange and finished with chocolate ganache).

Now those that have followed my previous reports know I am all about sweets and dessert. BOG left a lot to be desired in my opinion. The food arrived as is, on a plate, no drizzle, no garnish, no extra touches. They were good, but they tasted like any other dessert you might pick up from the Wal Mart bakery. Perhaps, I might even say, they tasted a day old. Now the orange custard in the eclair was very tasty. I almost wish they had just offered that in a dish. But the the rest of it was meh, boring and very non BOG feeling. For the price tag ($4.19) I'd rather go to Scoops and get an ice cream cookie (more on that later!).

We checked in to BOG about 15 minutes before our scheduled time and had to wait until about 5 minutes before our time. They immediately divide pre-order from those who had to place their order. There was a short line at the door for those who still had to order. They had to wait on an order kiosk and of course, it moved slow because people had to figure out what they wanted and how to place the order on the kiosk. There were CM's moving around to help but I was glad we had pre-ordered.

Pre-orders were taken directly to the second room which had I believe 6 kiosks. I swiped my Magic Band and our order popped up on the screen. We confirmed there were no changes and had the option to pay at the machine with any credit card or the Magic Band, which we chose to do. Again a CM was moving around the room to help with any questions. We took the receipt it printed and met a hostess. The hostess instructed us to lay the receipt on the table and pick any table we wanted in any of the three dining rooms.

Amy found us a 2 seat table (there are not many) on the edge of the main dining room. Many guests with four were forced to sit at the longer tables with families they didn't know. The food cart lady found us in about ten minutes. Before that no one had come by or checked our ticket. I am assuming they located us via a signal from my Magic Band as that is the only thing that tied us to the food order. She dropped off the food and no one ever came back by again.

As mentioned by others, the main hall is very loud. I felt like I was in a high school cafeteria. There was a counter along the wall which had the pop machines, napkins, silverware, etc but our Kids Meals came with bottled water so we never used the pop area. We did walk thru the other two dining rooms before leaving. The beasts room was much quieter but the magic rose is in the back and a constant parade of people were pouring in and out to see it (us included) so I would keep that traffic flow in mind if you try to find a table in there.

It is pretty and the theme details are lovely, I would go back for dinner to meet Beast, and I'd probably never go back after that.

Animal Kingdom * Kilimanjaro Safari's:

I could fill this review with safari pictures- I just love this attraction! We had giraffes right next to our vehicles eating and on our second ride through a Rhino walking right next to our bus! The first trip thru was at about 10am and the driver stopped completely several times but there was also almost no wait at the ride entrance. The second trip they didn't stop but slowed a bit but the lines had also picked up.

*SPOILER Alert* The second time, upon crossing the "old" bridge, the bridge mechanism started to shake and rock the bridge. As many times as we rode this, I never realized it did it. I don't know if it's new? or if it's computer controlled so they don't know when it will move? The story lines they used on both trips through, which we did back to back, were the same (the old bridge, hope it holds us, etc). yet it only swayed on the second trip. Perhaps someone else knows how this operates?

Disney Animal Kingdom * Tamu Tamu Refreshments:

I've been wanting to try this for years! The Pineapple Whip Soft Serve with Coconut Rum ! ($6.25).

And it was worth the wait! It is now a Must Have! on every trip!

A great combination of pineapple ice cream with a plentiful serving of coconut rum-
we split it, but next time- I might just have to have my own (don't tell Amy I don't want to share!).

Disney Animal Kingdom * Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery:

I realized while consuming the Pineapple Rum Whip, that a Freshly Baked Gourmet Cupcake ($5.19) would go nicely with it, so I ran right across the street to Kusafiri and snagged a White Chocolate Elephant.

The chocolate cupcake base was very moist (no filling) and the chocolate buttercream frosting added just the right amount of sweet, we even ended up eating the white chocolate elephant. It was a delicious treat and big enough for sharing.

Disney Animal Kingdom * Character Meet * Rafiki's Planet Watch:

We only had about 30 minutes for Rafiki's Planet Watch, but as we had never been back there I wanted to squeeze it in. While we were there, we had two great characters to Meet, Chip and Dale & Rafiki himself!

Thank you Kristen! Its the first time ever that our request have been granted!

Disney Animal Kingdom * Yak & Yeti Local Foods Cafe:

We were starving by lunch so we headed to Yak & Yeti's Quick Service Cafe.

Last time Amy had the Honey Chicken ($9.99) and was not very happy with it, but they had changed the menu slightly and nothing else appealed to her, so she took it again. This time she thought it was much more flavorful and she liked it quite a bit.

I had Korean Stir Fry BBQ Chicken ($9.99) which was described as "tangy" BBQ. It was not "tangy" it was hot!
I don't do hot, although I can do minor heat, luckily this was minor heat, and tolerable..but to warn any of you
who do not like some heat- "tangy" is a misleading description.

Also I noticed they did not serve it in the traditional Chinese carton but a regular to go style plastic box.
It seemed as if the servings were slightly less, but perhaps it was an illusion due to the packaging?

The Korean BBQ is the first pic, the Honey Chicken is the second.

Disney Animal Kingdom * Character Meet * Daisy:

The line to go meet Daisy could be easily overlooked. She was the only character back there and it was a hidden walk to get to her. If a CM hadn't been standing at the entrance to direct people in, we would have missed her. I complimented her on her pink colors and her awesome shoes!

Disney Animal Kingdom * Character Meet * Goofy & Pluto:

Goofy and Pluto are always fun to watch... they were line dancing to the music at one point and they are quite good!

Disney Photo Pass & Memory Maker:

We did not purchase Memory Maker but I did scan my Magic Band for each photo that we did.

One change we noticed was the televisions that show your ride photo's when you exit the ride, now have Magic Band scans at the bottom. When your picture appears, you scan your band and it should place the photo into your online photo account.

Disney also must have realized people were using their cameras and cell phones to take photographs of their photo's and thus not purchasing it..so they now have their name and advertising splashed across the photo making it hard to copy their photo.

Disney Animal Kingdom * Mt Everest Queue:

Two of my favorite Disney themed lands lie in Animal Kindgom; Africa & Asia.
And Asia as we all know, centers its theme around The Yeti.

We usually Fast Pass Mt Everest and we might have ran thru the queue once when the lines were low,
but we never really took our time wandering through it. So this time after Fast Passes were done,
we stood in the 30 minute line and I absorbed all of the beauty and mysticism devoted to the Yeti.
Of course, being a fan of Bigfoot, probably makes my view a bit prejudice.

Disney Animal Kingdom * Character Meet * Mickey & Minnie:

We had a hysterical meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie. The photographer noticed our Happily Ever After buttons and asked about it. So we told her we had just got married and were on our Disneymoon. Minnie wanted to see our wedding rings and the photographer pointed out that Mickey had not given Minnie a ring or proposal. Mickey got all flustered and walked off stage to the side of the room, looking at the wall, tapping his foot. Minnie threw up her arms and shook her head as if she didn't care he hadn't proposed..but Mickey was not easily convinced. He eventually turned around and shook his head no every time Minnie tried to wave him back to her. Finally Amy and I had to beg Mickey to come back so we could have our picture with him. He finally gave in and Minnie went over and they kissed~! We then got our picture. It was all very funny and they did a great job "acting".

Disney Animal Kingdom * Character Meet * UP - Russell & Dug:

We were the last people of the evening to meet Russell and Dug. They were very excited to be able to leave so we didn't keep them longer than a photo snap. I did tell them to have a good evening and in unison they both patted their tummies, so I guess they were both hungry!

Disney Animal Kingdom * Rainforest Cafe:

We had spent the whole day at Animal Kingdom and as we were leaving, on a whim, I asked Amy if she wanted to get some food at Rainforest Cafe. So we wandered in with no reservations. There was a line but no waiting if we sat at the bar stools at the bar. Good enough!

We ordered a Rainforest Pita Quesadilla ($10.99) to share.
(Grilled chicken, roasted peppers, caramelized onions and melted cheese on grilled pita bread. Served with fresh pico de gallo and sour cream)

Wow! Great food! The perfect combination of ingredients and the onions were sweet.

We also ordered a Little Islander Caesar Salad ($6.99). The description said it was a classic caesar but it had some heat to it. I believe it was from a large amount of black pepper probably in the dressing. It was too hot for Amy to eat more than a few bites but I finished it off.

We drank two specialty drinks - the Rainbow Colada ($8.99) for Amy (A chilling combination of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, strawberries and bananas, Pina Colada mix and pineapple juice blended together) and I had Beso Del Sol Red Sangria ($8.99) (made from 100% natural marriage of Spanish Tempranillo grapes, orange, blood orange, and lemon juices with a touch of natural cinnamon).

The salad came with a chunk of focaccia bread. I went to cut it and before I got the first cut in, it slipped across the bar and flopped on the floor. Our bartender was funny and witty, and he personally went to the kitchen and came back not only with a fresh piece of bread, but TWO pieces of bread, so we didn't have to slice it in half.

Disney Animal Kingdom * Misc. Photos:

The Trick Bridge:

Disney Hollywood Studios * Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant:

We had reservations for Sci-Fi as this was a favorite of Amy's.

I had the Vegetable Burger with Sweet Potato Fries ($12.99) (Black Bean and Vegetable Patty topped with Cucumber Planks, Grilled Red Onions, Arugula, and a House-made Tomato Jam served with a choice of Cucumber Salad or Sweet Potato Fries)

and Amy had the Build Your Own Angus Chuck Burger (16.49) (Flame-broiled Beef Patty with Cheddar or Swiss, crispy Bacon, Lettuce, and Vine-ripened Tomatoes with a choice of Cucumber Salad or French Fries).

Both were excellent and we had plenty to eat. We also had milkshakes ($5.19 each)... Vanilla for Amy and the Oreo Cookie for me (somehow I managed to not get a picture of those).. they were both great but I felt the Oreo was far superior.....every thick, delicious bite had cookies and crumbs..easily the best milkshake I've had in a long time !

Disney Hollywood Studios * Hollywood Tower Hotel Queue:

Amy would choose the Tower of Terror as the best queue and for that matter, the best ride.
I would agree, the details are fun to photograph~!