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!

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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

Just a small update

I've been very busy planning a wedding, and all the things that come with that, like getting fit and the honeymoon. So I haven't had the chance to go any where special to write about.

I will however give a quick update on the wedding side of things.

For those familiar with Disney World, you will know that getting reservations for the restaurants you want to eat at is important. We just passed our 180 day mark, which is the magical date you can start making reservations.

We are now booked in at the following restaurants;

• Raglan Road Irish Pub
• Yak & Yeti
• Teppan Edo
• Chef Mickey's
• Sci Fi Dine In
• Les Chefs De France
• Fulton's Crab House
• Whispering Canyon Cafe
• California Grill
• Yachtsman Steakhouse

There will possibly be more added as time goes on, but they're confirmed. I will attempt to do reviews (with pics!) on each of these restaurants when the time comes... Just 6 more months! Part of me wants time to fly, the other part of me is petrified that it's coming so quickly!

Also, I've been dealing with Liberty Travel, who have gotten me a great deal on return flights to Cancun and 7 nights accommodation at the Excellence Riviera Cancun. This is part of it that I'm not torn on. I can't wait for this at all!

Actually that reminds me, I haven't given my details to Liberty Travel yet to be able to book it... Better do that tonight.

I've been trying to use Google's new GMail Voice phone call option, but it doesn't seem to want to work for me. I thought that being Australian was the problem, but I've spoken to other Aussies that are using it fine. So it must just be my computer...

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Posted in: 180 days,adr,destination wedding,dinner,disney world,excellence riviera cancun,florida,holiday,liberty travel,travel,wedding planning

Getting cheap flights with V Australia

Chris and I are planning a destination wedding for March next year. If you're a follower of my blog it should come as no suprise to you when I say we're getting married at Disney World in Florida.

Plans are going great, and I will make sure to post many pictures and stories of our travels while we're over there.

We've just booked our flights for the trip, and we got an awesome price! From Sydney to Orlando return we're paying $1243 per person. At the moment you can't even get that price to go from Sydney to Los Angeles with V Australia, so we were very happy with it.

I'm now trying to encourage my guests to book their flights with this great offer, as many have expressed an interest in taking the same flight from Sydney. However many are reporting that they are unable to find these cheap flights.

So, what follows below, is my attempt at step by step instructions so our guests can get cheap flights to the states. - They might even help those who are looking for flights around the same time!

1. Go to http://www.vaustralia.com/

2.On the left hand side under find flights select Sydney as the departure and Orlando (MCO) as the destination.

3.For the dates I’ve found that 22/02/11 and 4/03/11 work really well, however when you press find flights it shows you all of the available days, and how much for each flight. So you can select what works best. I’ve just done the search and it shows $648 on the 22nd, and $598 on the 4th – total of $1246 return.

4.Now here’s the tricky part. We have booked our flights leaving Sydney on the 22nd, however when we arrive in Los Angeles we’ve arranged to catch the connecting flight the following morning. You don’t need to do this, however we’ve decided that we don’t want to be flying through the night, so this works best for us.

5.To do this though, you have to call to book your flights. Usually it costs more to book flights by phone, then what it does online. So you need to explain to whoever is on the phone that you’ve found the flights online, however you want to do a one night stopover in LA. Tell them how much the flights are you’ve found, and they should be able to find a similarly priced flight.

6. You’ll need to pay by credit card, so have it ready, they may also ask for passport numbers but this isn’t needed right now.

7.If this doesn’t pan out, Delta are currently offering cheap flights, and I believe so are United.

Good luck!

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Posted in: cheap flights,destination wedding,flights,florida,guests,instructions,los angeles,sydney,wedding