Welcome to a brand new installment of my Trip Report Tuesday blog series! I can hardly wait to share all the magical details of our most recent WDW vacation!
We arrived on Thanksgiving Day, spreading the next 16 nights between four resorts. We began with an evening at Port Orleans French Quarter, spent the following four nights at All-Star Music, moved on to spend next five evenings at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort (which was incredible), and concluded the trip with six nights at the newest Disney Vacation Club addition, Copper Creek Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge! We tried several new restaurants, experienced all the joy of the holidays at Disney, and created countless memories that we'll forever cherish! I'm looking forward to preserving them here and bringing fellow Disney lovers a Dis fix with new pixie dusted posts each Tuesday for the next few months!
Day 1 - Thursday, November 23, 2017
Thanksgiving Day
Disney bound!
While awaiting our connecting flight out of Atlanta we grabbed a bite to eat.
Chick-fil-A is always a good idea. Jason opted for a Charley's sub as we no longer have one of those in our area.
Fed and ready for fun, we boarded our next flight.
Soon it was time for our traditional airport arrival snapshot!
We boarded our favorite bus, Disney's Magical Express, to our home for the evening, Port Orleans French Quarter. If you've been around here for a while you may remember we spent two weeks back in 2013 at Port Orleans Riverside and absolutely loved it! (You can find my Port Orleans Royal Room Tour post here and the trip reports from that 17-day WDW trip in my Trip Reports tab.) We were thrilled to check out the French Quarter side of our favorite Disney moderate resort and spend Thanksgiving night there!
Checking in we got our first taste of Disney Christmastime decor!
While we've enjoyed WDW Christmastime vacations in the past, it had been a decade since our last trip during this festive time of year. I was beyond giddy to experience all the magic of Christmastime there once again!
French Quarter is so quaint and perfectly themed in New Orleans fashion. We adored the walkways and you know we were tickled pink to once again stroll alongside the Sassagoula River!
Here's a peek at our room...
Cheers to finding Disney Rapid Refill mugs in our favorite colors! These mugs can be purchased for single day use up to "length of stay". Sadly, length of stay translates to two weeks. We were there for 17 days so the soft drink machines started rejecting our mugs (with RFID chips inside) before the end of our trip.
Strolling these "streets" by the light of these lampposts at night was beautiful!
One of our favorite perks of staying at Port Orleans is the complimentary boat rides to and from Disney Springs!
We headed to Disney Springs for a night of shopping, dining, and making a longtime Disney come true! . . .
Our first stop was Disney Guest Relations to pick up our Walt Disney World Annual Passes!
Awaiting a Disney dream come true!
I still get teary eyed just looking at this beautiful dream come true! We put these Annual Passes to use throughout our trip and will take advantage of them again during two upcoming vacations later this year!
How darling are the Disney Springs carousel horses all decked out for the holidays in their Santa hats?
We then popped into our favorite shops at Disney Springs. I stopped by Cherry Tree Lane to inquire about when the new Christmas Disney Dooney and Bourke bags would be released and was told they'd be put out on Black Friday morning. More on that in a future post. ;)
Little One made her first purchase of the trip that night, adorable pom pom Minnie Christmas ears! Don't you just love them?
Little One made her first purchase of the trip that night, adorable pom pom Minnie Christmas ears! Don't you just love them?
Thanksgiving Dinner // Raglan Road
Princess posing with a local. ;)
This was our first meal at Raglan Road and we can't say enough great things about it! The food was delicious, the service was wonderful, and the entertainment alone would've been worth the visit! This is one holiday meal we will never forget!
Irish Soda Bread // Jason's Pear Ale and It's Not Bleedin' Chowder // My Burger 'R' Way with bacon, tomato chutney and Dubliner vintage cheese - delish! // Both girls ordered Fish & Chips
The band and Irish dancers were all incredible! You can catch footage of their performance on my family's YouTube channel, Eat, Sleep, Dis, Repeat! My husband published the first of many Disney vids from this trip last night. I'll share a direct link at the conclusion of this post.
We followed dinner up with a stop in their cute shop where we purchased a magnet in the likeness of the restaurant front. Every time I see it I'm reminded of that sweet evening celebrating our first Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World.
This was also our first visit to Disney Springs after its transformation from Downtown Disney was fully completed. I'm crazy about the updates! Disney Springs is no longer just a place to do a bit of shopping and grab a bite to eat while you're there. It's now a destination! It's absolutely beautiful by the light of day or lit up at night. They've added so many fantastic shops and the restaurants are some of my favorite in all of Disney property now! (I look forward to sharing more about our adventures there in future trip reports!)
One boat ride later we were back at our resort and settling into our room with full tummies and thankful hearts at the end of what was my favorite Thanksgiving evening of my lifetime!
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll be back next Tuesday to hear all about our first day in the Parks! It kicks off with an incredibly exciting first!
Sometimes snapshots just don't do things justice! Be sure to check out the video footage from this day and more on my family's YouTube channel,
Here is a direct link to the video that coincides with this blog post:
I appreciate each comment, & "like"! They let me know that you enjoyed what you read, which makes it worth sharing! ;)
What a Thanksgiving to remember in your hearts forever!! Such a sweet recap and I am really lolling forward to Trip Tuesday's! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place to spend Thanksgiving! I plan to visit Disney Springs with my kids on our first day there in June. We were also there a year ago December for the first time.
ReplyDeleteEEk! Squealing with excitement over here for these trip reports! Oh, how I would love to grab lunch at Raglan Road today! Yummy!!!!!! I can't wait to see more! <3 Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI am SO HAPPY this series is back!!!!! Seriously, I love living Disney vicariously through you! Also, those pom pom Minnie ears are adorable!
ReplyDeleteMeg, Borrowed Heaven
LOVE that your annual passholders, and yesss Chic Fil A is always a good idea <3
ReplyDeleteGreen Fashionista
I love the Port Orlean's! I haven't stayed there but we did stop by to get some beignet's! I love your daughter's fun fluffy ears! I have never seen those before! :)
ReplyDelete