Fantasy Swashbucklers take on MNSSHP and the Western Caribbean…. About This Page:

[Coop]

Signing in. All your reports of cruising make me want to take one. Never have - what better way to "get your feet wet" (so to speak) than with a Disney cruise?

[Dlandmom2]

Great start, but hmmm...what's next?

[shadowryter]

Originally Posted by NanaTink

Great start! Hope things take a turn for the better tho! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks...more coming up.

Originally Posted by bsblady01

great start more please

Originally Posted by mushu22

More please

Originally Posted by chezp

Great start!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great start!

Originally Posted by shazza

Interesting start! Hope things go better than it sounds from your hint of what is to come.

I guess we'll see.

[shadowryter]

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

I missed the TR, but am aboard for this! Can't wait for the details! Although the next update doesn't sound so good.

But I see you're all caught up.

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

I have done the 6am flights out of Providence...I always park and fly when I do that. Towncar sounds nice though! I live too far away for that.
Not really looking forward to the next update, but I am!

Towncar was a nice surprise...sure we'll be back on the van next time.

Originally Posted by Cam22

Great start!

Originally Posted by disneydreamer33

Great start, but WHAT!!!???? No room!
Hurry back please.

You got it.

Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy

I've been waiting for this one! But, I'm worried about your "teaser" line! Please tell us more.

More in a little bit.

Originally Posted by MayraLR

How did I miss this? Thankfully it's not too far along. Your next update doesn't sound too promising.

[shadowryter]

Originally Posted by JKnott17

Great start!

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

Great Start!!! Except for the lack of sleep...........and the computers down........that was our last day there and I was hearing from a few PPer's that were checking in that day that they were having issues

Wow we could have crossed paths...There were issues alright.

Originally Posted by Coop

Signing in. All your reports of cruising make me want to take one. Never have - what better way to "get your feet wet" (so to speak) than with a Disney cruise?

I think I love Disney cruises as well as Disney itself. You gotta try it.

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Great start, but hmmm...what's next?

Well let's see.

[shadowryter]

Hi all, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and survived Tryptophan nirvana. Just a quick update. My mom is doing well and my dad is driving me up the wall. Enough said. I'm going to try to not let too much time pass between my posts. I had to close my design thread on the "other" board because of time constraints but I'm having fun staying connected with you all. So lets get going.
Day 1 ~ Oct 9th continued…　
We were the first stop at Port Orleans Resort and I thought how cool was this to be greeted at the door by a gentleman who gave us tons of Mardi Gras beads in colors of purple, green, gold and silver. A great start to our day. We got in line and were directed to registration which was faster than I had expected even after pre registering online. This was great…or was it? Hmmmm. I soon found out why. It would seem that the computers were down…all of them…all the resorts for an upgrade. Bad time for an upgrade I thought but how bad could it be? For our inconvenience we were offered a free pass to the Magic Kingdom for the day. Problem was our plans were already made and we were headed to Downtown Disney and lunch at Fulton’s Crab House.

This was where things got a little sticky. We had no room assignment, no key to the world card, not even our dining plan was available. So now what we needed to do was keep our receipt’s of what we ate, snacked, drank and so on and then bring them to the concierge desk where our money would be happily refunded and our dining plan adjusted…when the computers were up that is. I was ok with this but Dan was doubtful and so glad that I opted to bring an extra credit card just in case. Now all we had to do was take our carryon’s and check them and we could begin our day. Once we had our hands free we opted to take the friendship boat to DTD. It was a pleasant ride and soon we were docking and making our way to World of Disney.
First picture’s of POFQ

Boat to DTD

DTD from boat

Fulton’s Crab House and character balloon

With little shopping in hand we headed to D-Street passing by the Lego masterpiece of Maleficent the dragon and Prince Phillip which happened to cause my downfall last year. With a “No rock climbing today,” warning from both Dan and Heather we continued on our way without incident. It was a hot afternoon and we were all wearing jeans and sweatshirts. You know New England Fall attire. After much talk about taking it easy on Vinylmation’s we left with about a dozen and retuned later for a few more. We stopped by the Character balloon that I so wanted to ride on but it was a bit blustery and that balloon was swaying something fierce so I backed down. Enjoying a frozen lemonade we were greeted by a little guy who was just basking in the sun. On the move again we wondered past D-Street where I found the Candy Cauldron. Where has this been all my life? We ventured inside and couldn’t pass up a snack regardless that our lunch at Fulton’s was only about an hour away.
Familiar Territory

Our little visitor

Candy Cauldron displays

Chocolate covered strawberry…this was huge

Mickey brownie…so yummy

Halloween cupcake…really good

Halloween display

Rockin' Balloon

We slowly made our way back towards the marketplace and Fulton’s Crab House. The last time I was here Heather was 6 ½, I think it was called the Empress Lily and it was a character breakfast. It was in ‘97, the year I brought my parents to their first and last trip to Disney. Does anyone remember this? We checked in 15 minutes early and was shortly escorted upstairs to a nice table by the a window overlooking to where we had arrived on the boat. There was also a view of the character balloon rising and lowering, making me wish I had ridden this even more.

After completely confusing Jackie, our server about our dining plan situation, we ordered drinks and appetizers and went ahead with entrees when she promised that everything would not arrive at the same time. A pet peeve of mine. Everything was absolutely delicious. Nothing to complain about here. My only regret was there was so much food that dessert seemed out of the question. So dining plan or not, we ordered one and shared though I admit I could have eaten the whole thing myself…it was that good!
Downstairs at Fulton’s

Upstairs Constellation dining room with ceiling decorated in Astrological symbols. Heather loved this…

Southern Hurricane ~ white rum, Brinley’s Shipwreck rum, tropical fruit juices and a 151 float

Peach Sangria ~ white wine, peach schnapps, pineapple juice with fresh peaches and blueberries

Crab Cake ~ Jumbo lump blue crab, roasted corn maque choux, fried green tomato, remoulade sauce

Crab Ceviche ~ Blistered tomatillo, sweet onion, heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, avocado

Portobello Mushroom Fries ~ Orange Blossom Pilsner battered, mustard sauce

Lobster and Shrimp Roll with fries ~ Maine lobster, rock shrimp, celery, red onion, mayonnaise, toasted New England roll

Shrimp Po-Boy x 2 ~ Lettuce, tomato, remoulade sauce, toasted hoagie bun

Milk Chocolate Créme Brulée ~ Milk Chocolate Custard, dusted with Sugar and Caramelized into a Crispy Candy Glaze, topped with Fresh Berries and Whipped Cream…This was to die for!

Halloween display

With lunch over we left and did a little more shopping until boarding the boat back to POFQ. Before we were even able to approach registration we were again covered in more beads. We went to the counter and I could already see that black computer screen. After waiting for what seemed like forever a poor beleaguered cast member finally appeared and gave us our room with a temporary key card. It was a little past five and we were tired and just wanted to go to our room and rest a bit and it was so good to open that door and see our luggage waiting for us. Yeah!

I did my usual and took pictures of the room so Dan and Heather could crash. About an hour later when I was unpacking I noticed it was kind of warm and checked the temperature. It was 76 degrees and no matter how much I turned it down, it wouldn’t budge. I called maintenance who didn’t seemed concerned until I told them I had a daughter who has asthma and she couldn’t tolerate the room the way it was. Within minutes someone was at the door and even he couldn’t bring the temp down. Turned out the air conditioner’s filter needed a good cleaning and then we were good to go. Dan and I went to retrieve the rest of our luggage from storage and finally we were settled in.
Our water view room…pool

Mickey wreath

Cute toiletries

Next...Finally...Yachtsman Steakhouse....so this is what we've been missing out on.

[shadowryter]

Day 1 ~ Oct 9th…continued
We had dinner reservations quickly approaching for 9 pm at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I remembered having to cancel this on last year as well as the year before and hearing a few, “How could you cancel Yachtsman’s?” “The best steak on property.” So I not only got my ressie’s early I decided that this would be where Dan and I would celebrate 23 years of marriage. He was all for it and since we were just going to take a cab to the Yacht Club any way we decided we would dress for our special occasion.

We arrived around 8:45 and was seated within 15 minutes. Our cheery server arrived promptly and handed us our menus and it took me a few seconds to notice that they were printed just for us…Happy 23rd Anniversary…Linda and Daniel. I did note our occasion’s on all our reservations but this was just such a lovely gesture and keepsake. Being our first time at Yachtsman, we listened intently as Mana explained the menu fully. We ordered drinks and apps and indulged in the yummy rolls, especially the Brioche. The butter was lightly salted and came with a small cup of roasted garlic, so good. Our entrees were unanimous and
after tackling a 16 oz. steak there was no room for dessert.
Our special menu

Rolls, Brioche and Butter

Yachtsman Mai Tai
Tennessee Honey

Table in the corner

Garden Salad x 2 ~ Boston lettuce, watermelon, house ricotta, pistachios, and roasted peach dressing

Beef Pot Stickers ~ Yuzu-soy glaze, Shitake, Hijiki, Lotus root, Daikon radish

16 oz. Boneless Rib Eye x 3 ~ Sweet onion jam, bone marrow, Brioche, Red wine butter

I must say that I wasn’t at all sure about the bone marrow but it was really quite good.

I had previously ordered a special cake for our anniversary and was in contact with Chef Yvette of the Yacht and Beach Club Bakery to iron out the details. A simple vanilla mini cake with dark chocolate mousse filling decorated in white, yellow and peach…our wedding colors. When the moment arrived, Mana brought out the cake and I couldn’t have been more pleased. It was as tasty as it was beautiful and in typical Disney fashion the evening ended on a truly magical note.
Our perfect little anniversary cake

The happy couple

Inside as good as out

Once we returned Heather and I jumped into our pj’s and sweatshirts and walked around the resort grounds. It was a perfect time to take photos, even though the night time sprinkler’s gave us a challenge of simply dodging them.
A few night time shots of POFQ


Fountain with said sprinklers in the background

Next….A day at Hollywood Studios….ok...half a day?

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry about the computers being down, but what a great time at DTD and great meals as well! Love the cake! I too remember when Fulton's was the Empress Lily!

[lfredsbo]

Sorry you had to deal with the computers being down But looks like you had a great day in DTD!!! Fultons - YUM!!!
WoW! thought we had a vinylmation craze!! We usually bring about about 5-6 new ones per trip!
How sweet on that menu!!! And that cake looks devine!!!
Happy Anniversary!

[chezp]

What a pain about the computers being down but apart from that, it sounds like a great day with some nice eats!

[Coop]

Wow 2 of our favorites! Yummy pics! Glad they made your anniversary special!

[mpwife153]

Other than the computers being down, it is a great start to your trip. The cake you ordered looks yummy!

[MayraLR]

Wow, computers down, that must've been chaos.
Lunch and dinner looked delicous! And the cake was adorable.

[Cam22]

We had a similar problem in June 2011 when the computers all went down for an upgrade. I wonder why they don't do that kind of thing in the middle of the night. Your room looks beautiful! Both your meals looks so delicious!

[OneLittleSpark]

Sounds like a great first day, even though the computers were down and that made it a little weird.

I am pysched to see all your pics of POFQ, it's our top choice for the next family trip in 2014. DD keeps saying I want to stay where the dragon slide is. Which made me happy, bc POFQ was my top pick for a mod.

So that Peach Sangria, looked and sounded fabulous!!!

I didn't know that they made little cakes like that....that small. That is awesome! Yellow and orange were my colors...my fave colors.

Can't wait to hear more!