I know, I know...

Yes, I've been a really bad blogger, I know!

There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment, even now I'm behind my desk at work looking over my should as I hastily type away.

Here is just a selection of some good websites to get your travel fix;

Trip Advisor

Travelzoo

Sydney Morning Herald - Travel

Jetsetter

Each of the above websites offers tips, tricks and opinions on different travel deals.

Hopefully that will keep the travel bug at bay for now :)

Read more »

Posted in: escape travel,travel deals,travel sites,travelzoo,trip advisor

Port Orleans Riverside Resort – Walt Disney World.

photo by Misty Miotto

As with all Disney resorts, the attention to detail here is second to none. The themeing at the Port Orleans Riverside is that of old Louisiana – with the back water bayou making up half of the resort, and the stately mansions being the other part. These two sections respectively called the Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend.

Disney’s Magical Express, a bus service made available to guests staying at Disney Resorts, picked us up from the airport. The bus first made stops at the Yacht Club and the Boardwalk, which made the trip feel long, however as the excitement for Disney builds I’m sure any trip feels like a lifetime! Check in was quick and efficient. Sonia – from South Australia! – Checked us in, and asked about our wedding, where it was being held and when it was and congratulated us and all that. She gave us clear directions to our room, which was a bit of a walk with all of our suitcases, but the scenery was amazing, so we didn’t mind. We also received a phone call from Sonia on our wedding day wishing us all the best!

Couldn't resist throwing in a wedding photo!

Wedding photos were taken by Misty Miotto

She's an amazing photographer!

Being that I was here for my wedding, naturally I requested a room in the Magnolia Bend area. We received room 8063, which was located in the Arcadian House, and was a corner room with a king bed. I believe it also technically had water and river views, being that it was about as close as you could get to the river from this building, and was also next to one of the quiet pools that are dotted throughout the resort. I grabbed a few quick photos of our particular room, but couldn’t take many as we were heading out to Down Town Disney to meet up with some people.

If you’re interested in seeing more photos check out www.PortOrleans.org, which should be your first stop when investigating this resort.

House keeping, also known as Mouse keeping, came early in the morning, and were quick and efficient. If your Do Not Disturb sign was posted on the door, they checked back regularly to see if they could get through, if not they left fresh towels and soaps at your door. They also left little surprises for us to find on our return.

There were several bus stops to the parks throughout the resort, which meant you didn’t have far to go to catch one. However due to the size of Disney World, I would probably recommend hiring a car to get around.

While we didn’t eat at Boatwrights, we had a few family members that did, and all of them were happy with both the food and service. We did however eat a few times at Riverside Mill, which was just a food court layout, but with great food (breakfast did leave a bit to be desired though). We also stopped in at the River Roost lounge a few times (try the nachos). I wasn’t terribly happy with the service here. They took forever to come to our table to take our orders, and wouldn’t let us order from the bar. On one occasion I ordered the same drink 4 times, before eventually taking a friend’s reusable mug into Riverside Mill and filling up for free. The drink miraculously turned up after that… If you haven’t already heard of “Yee Ha” Bob Jackson, then you’re missing out. He performs a piano comedy act, which never fails to get the entire audience participating.

He appears Wednesdays through Saturdays and cannot be missed! Check out www.yehaabob.com for more information.

I loved this resort. From the beautiful landscaping, to the fair sized rooms, and dining options available. I may not have stayed in all of the Disney Resorts, but this tops my list. I will be back!

Read more »

Posted in: disney,disney resort,escape travel,florida,orlando,orlando resort,port orleans,port orleans riverside,port orleans riverside resort,walt disney world,yehaa bob

Small Updates

Just thought I'd let you all know where I'm up to when it comes to my next big holiday in Feb/March of next year.

For those who don't know, we're having a Destination wedding at Walt Disney World in Florida, followed by our Honeymoon in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

Last night I booked our accommodation at the Port Orleans Riverside Resort from Feb 23rd to March 5th. Because of the wedding we get a slight discount on our rooms, but I'm hoping for a better rate to come out some time in November, this at least secures our room for us.

I've contacted 3 separate travel agents to see what they can do for me when it comes to booking the Honeymoon, so far only Escape Travel has been able to get back to me... I've been waiting a couple of weeks now for a response and I don't think any more are coming...

I'm going to do a bit more research before booking the honeymoon, as we wanted 10 days in Mexico and direct flights there, however Delta only do direct flights on Saturdays, which would only give us 7 days, JetBlue also do direct flights, but they haven't released them for March yet, which is a real pain!

Also, on a slight side note, we went dress shopping in Newcaslte over the weekend. We shopped for my wedding dress at Belles & Beaux, I was told that they were quite pushy here, but I didn't find that at all, they were helpful and attentive. We went bridesmaid dress shopping and Mother of the bride shopping at a shop called Shazzam By The Lake over in Toronto, they were also very friendly and helpful.

We had lunch on Honeysuckle Drive at a restaurant called Twist. The service was a little slow, but the food was great and well priced. Usually when I eat on Honeysuckle Drive I eat at a Japanese restaurant called Nagisa, which is an awesome place! However we had some people with us who don't like Sushi, so Twist was safer.

Read more »

Posted in: belles and beaux,escape travel,nagisa,newcastle,puerto morelos,shazzam by the lake,twist