Staying at Port Orleans French Quarter at WDW

We went to New Orleans for our honeymoon. Lots of people thought it an unusual honeymoon destination, but we love food and music, so it was perfect. Since we were visiting Disney World during our anniversary, we thought it would be fun to stay at Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter Resort. 

I wish all accommodations had online check in. I checked in online and got a text and an e-mail with our room number before we even got off of the plane. 

At the airport, we hopped on Magical Express, and when we arrived at the resort there was a cast member standing out front waiting just for us. She handed us a folder with our last name on it that contained all of the hotel information we needed. 

The Mickey heads were a nice touch. 

We found our hotel room and used our magic bands to open the door. It was wonderfully easy.

Though we don't mind walking, it was convenient to be in a building that was close to all of the main areas/buildings. 

Our room was clean. The theming was classy. 

I loved the subtle Mickeys that were on the shower curtain

The toiletries smell wonderful. It's a light orange scent that you will happily wear into the parks each day.

The bed was comfortable, though not the coziest we've encountered in our travels, but after a 15 hour day at a park, any bed will do. 

There was plenty of space for us, but I could see the room feeling a bit tight with four people. 

The grounds are lovely. It really does feel like New Orleans, a cleaner, less gritty version of New Orleans. This Disney Resort was quite peaceful and quiet. Even during the bustling morning and the evening when everyone is coming back from the parks, the serene garden atmosphere seemed to make people keep boisterousness to a minimum. 

In the background, there was a father and daughter having a light saber battle on the lawn. It was adorable.

Mickey Art painted using rain water 

The pool area has great theming. It was a shame that we didn't have an extra day just to hang out by the pool with a hurricane.  I regret that I never got a chance to go down the slide. 

We always came back too late at night, but fortunately the hot tub stayed open later, so we did hang out in the hot tub one night. 

We met a collection of characters the night we hung out in the hot tub. There was a guy in the hot tub from Oregon. He was not that impressed with Disney World. A lot of the impression was influenced by his inability to acquire plentiful amounts of inexpensive alcohol.  We now use Oregon guy as a descriptive word. We'll say,  that person or that thing is very "Oregon." 

The hotel lobby is beautiful. 

It was a pleasure to walk through in the morning.

It started the day off right, especially when this guy was out front, wishing guests a magical day on the way to the bus stop. 

The buses were plentiful and never felt overcrowded. 

Of course one of the best reasons to stay at Port Orleans French Quarter, is the water taxi that takes you to Disney Springs. 

If we weren't already relaxed after checking into our hotel room, the boat ride to Disney Springs certainly shifted us into vacation mode. Even if you don't want to spend time at Disney Springs, though you should, it's worth just taking the calm, scenic, cool breeze in your hair, boat ride.

Dock used for going back to French Quarter from Disney Springs

There aren't as many food options at French Quarter as there are at some of the other Disney Resorts, but we knew we had to at least get the beignets.  

The quick service is quite festive. In the morning it is alive with a flurry of caffeinated activity.  

We shared a six count for breakfast one morning with some extremely strong cups of coffee. They were pretty good beignets. They are large so a six count between two people was plenty. 

We loved the laid back, tranquil vibe of Port Orleans French Quarter. The atmosphere provided a calm, restfulness after busy days at the parks.   We would definitely stay there again.

We Eat a Lot of Ice Cream...Again at Disney World

It wouldn't be a trip without imbibing in one of my favorite foods, ice cream.  I decided that during this trip I would try three ice cream places I haven't tried before.

Vivoli

Have you watched I'll Have What Phil's Having yet?  If not, and you like food/travel, I highly recommend the show.  It was my favorite new television show this fall. The show is heart warming, hilarious, and has a nice touch of class without an ounce of pretension. Phil's level of food enthusiasm is wonderful, and he will tell you where you can get the best hot chocolate in France, or gelato in Italy.

My mouth was salivating as I watched Phil taste Vivoli's gelato in Italy. A trip to Italy wasn't in cards for this year, or even next year for us, but by what seems to still be a strange turn of fortune, Vivoli, the same place in Italy, now has a shop at Disney Springs. 

Per Phil's recommendation, we got the crema. I also got a scoop of the brandied cherry.

 It was a taste of creamy heaven.  I cannot emphasis how creamy this gelato was, yet it wasn't heavy. The flavors were simple and light. And fresh, especially the cherries in the brandied cherry.  If this is Italy, I need to get there soon.

Vivoli has nice outdoor seating so you can enjoy your gelato while people watching and listening to the live bands play. 

I'll Have What Phil's Having is free on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Go check it out. 

L'Artisan des Glaces

I must thank The Disney Dream Girls Podcast for this recommendation.  Ever since they extolled the virtues of the Croque Glace, I have wanted one.  Running out of time to have this treat was one of my biggest regrets of our 2014 trip, so this time I was fiercely determined.

Located in Epcot in the France pavilion, L'Artisan des Glaces is as charming to look at as it is fun to say.

Since we had sampled several offerings from the Food and Wine Festival throughout the evening, we decided to share a Croque Glace.  

What is a Croque Glace? It is ice cream, topped with either chocolate, raspberry or caramel sauce, sealed inside warm brioche. It's a French take on the ice cream sandwich. Never have we had such a hard time choosing a flavor of ice cream. Did we want chocolate with raspberry sauce? Coffee with chocolate sauce? The pairings took a lot of consideration.  In the end we went with a seasonal flavor, apple pie, with caramel sauce.  
The making of the Croque Glace is art.

  
The warm buttery brioche, the ice cream that is softened just a touch, and the fresh caramel sauce, blended beautifully.  Shannon liked it, but said that he thought half was enough.  I smiled and nodded but honestly, I could polish off an entire Croque Glace if needed. If you are in Epcot, you need to try this at least once. 

The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor

Nothing helps to ease the depression of a trip almost over quite like ice cream.  Before heading out of Magic Kingdom to catch our plane home, we stopped at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor.  

I loved the old-timey vibe.

I was delighted to see peanut butter sauce up on the board, so I got the All- American Sundae with the slight change of getting all vanilla ice cream instead of the chocolate and vanilla combo.  

The sundae had chocolate and peanut butter sauce, topped with a mound of fluffy whipped cream.  The peanut butter chips sprinkled along with chocolate chips were a nice touch.

Shannon wanted something more refreshing, so he got a root beer float.

We had no trouble finding an outdoor table. The air was warm, the sun was shining, and smiling faces strolled up and down Main Street. It's a cute, lovely little spot.  As we were sitting there, people started lining up for the afternoon parade.  I realized that if you didn't need to be right up front, sitting down at a table at the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor while sipping a root beer float would be a fantastic parade viewing spot. 

I loved all three of our new ice cream choices this trip. I can't wait to see what new ice cream treats I discover the next time. 

If you want to catch my previous Disney Ice Cream Post - I Scream, You Scream, We Eat A Lot of Ice Cream 

My Favorite Six Reads of 2015

Whether I'm chilling on a beach in Mexico, or snuggled in my bed with a cat or two at home, books are pretty much another appendage for me. I devoured a lot of books this year, and although I wanted to be clever and have my five favorite reads of 2015, I just couldn't think of one to leave out. Think of it as five books, plus one for good luck in 2016. 

The Whisper by Aaron Starmer (Fiction)
Aaron's imagination never ceases to amaze me and I can't give any more away than that or it ruins the surprises.  I will be sad when the Riverman Trilogy wraps up this March, but I still can't wait to read the third book. 

The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost:A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure  by Rachel Friedman (Non-Fiction/Travel)

I loved, loved, loved this book. It will continue to be one of my favorite travel books of all time. Rachel's insights, combined with her humor, makes this a fun, inspiring read. It often made me wish I could go back and have an in my twenties do over.

Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Fiction)

I wasn't sure about this one at first.  It starts out very depressing and towards the end there was a moment when I started sobbing. Anything with a cat gets the water works going, but it was worth sticking it out. It's not so much about a main character as much as it is about an ensemble of characters and how people's lives sometimes get unexpectedly woven together and what the outcome of that can be. 

Scarlet - Second book in the Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer (Science Fiction)

A Cyborg, a kick ass independent girl, a guy named Wolf, a handsome Prince, and an evil Queen, do you need anything more? Maybe a space ship, they're pretty cool too. 

The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane Von Furstenberg (Autobiography) 

Because it is always a good idea to get advice and life lessons from an independent, passionate, intelligent lady. She is amazing. 

Jackaby - Book 1, by William Ritter (Fiction)

Sherlock Holmes with a touch of The Doctor's personality teams up with an intelligent, spunky teenage girl to solve supernatural crimes. Also they live with a ghost and a duck named Douglas.This book made me smile the whole way through. I think Abigail Rook was the character who was most like me out of all of the books I read this year. 

I already finished one great book in 2016. I guess I'll have to wait until the end of the year to see if it makes next year's list. 

We find the "Ferrytale" Wishes Cruise Delightful

When I first saw the announcement for the Ferrytale Wishes Fireworks Cruise I was excited.  The maiden voyage was launching right before our trip, and there was a cruise available on the night of our anniversary. I made a reservation for the cruise, and cancelled our anniversary dinner reservation at The Hollywood Brown Derby.

The first few blog posts/reviews that rolled in after the initial Ferrytale cruises were not  positive. I started to get nervous.  Had I made a terrible mistake? Would we regret cancelling dinner at The Brown Derby? Would we end up spending several miserable hours trapped in the middle of a body of water on a ferry? 

I'm happy to say that we found the Ferrytale Wishes Cruise delightful.

Delight #1- Sweet Souvenirs 

At the check in we were handed a copy of the dessert menu and a cute map of the Seven Seas Lagoon. We also received an exclusive Ferrytale Wishes pin.  

A pin that could not be purchased. You can only obtain it by taking the cruise.  None of the reviews mentioned the pin. We thought it was pretty cool and we aren't even pin collectors.

Along with the pin, we received some initial information about our evening, then we were invited to hang out in the pop-up cocktail area. 

A couple of cast members floated around brandishing trays with glowing champagne flutes. The flutes were filled with sparkling apple cider. We decided to have a little anniversary toast. Champagne flutes=fun, but glowing champagne flutes= super fun.

Next a couple of cast members came around passing out light up necklaces. The necklaces actually  had settings so you could keep the lights still, have them flashing, or have them move slowly.  I was pretty much beside myself with joy at this point and we hadn't even boarded the boat,

though the boarding time came soon enough.

As we boarded the boat, we were handed special Ferrytale Cruise dessert plates.  They even had a little holder for the glow flutes.

Along with your plate, you could also pick up a glass of wine if you so desired.

There was a photographer going around during the cruise snapping photos.  We didn't have photopass, but I was excited to find out later that the digital copies of the pictures appeared to be part of the cruise.  I was happy to have a nice photo of us together on our anniversary. 

Delight #2- Delectable Desserts

The Cruise included an all- you- can- eat dessert buffet. I'm more of a savory eater, but I'm not going to pass up tables covered with desserts.  The tables were scattered around each level so everyone wasn't on top of each other trying to get to the goods.

All of the desserts were themed around the Seven Seas Lagoon. The cutest by far was Cinderella's Sugar Slipper with Orange Financier. Though you couldn't really eat the slipper,the little cake had a wonderful citrus flavor without being overly sweet. I also tried the Polynesian De-Constructed Pinapple Upside-Down Cake and The Grand Key Lime Tart. Both desserts were good, but the star of the night was the Contemporary Spiced Flourless Chocolate Cake. It had a texture somewhere between a cake and a mousse. It tasted like the best Mexican, cinnamon hot chocolate I've ever had.  If I wasn't so overloaded with sugar, I would have had another.  

I appreciated that the buffet included a cheese and meat tray. It acted as a nice palate cleanser between plates of sugared treats.

Just when we thought that we couldn't stuff anymore into our faces, a cast member approached bearing icy treats.  Since I'm normally a Mickey Bar girl, I thought I would give an ice cream sandwich a try.

There were also unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Delight #3- Sparkly Sights

We munched on desserts as the ferry glided around Seven Seas Lagoon. We got so close to the Grand Floridian, people on their balconies waved to us, and we waved back. Usually we end up watching the Electrical Water Pageant from a restaurant window, but this time we were close, really close. We were practically on top of the pageant.  It was super neat and my new favorite way to see the light pageant.

Of course the main reason, besides the desserts, to go on the cruise, is the fireworks. The ferry stopped and played the music for Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.  A lot of the blogs/reviews I read complained that they thought the ferry was too far away from the fireworks, but we saw the fireworks in the park the night before, and enjoyed seeing them from a different vantage point.

It was certainly more relaxing and peaceful watching the fireworks while floating on the calm water, a slight breeze blowing off of the lagoon. It was a little bit of romantic magic.

Delight #4- Thoughtful Transportation

After docking back at the transportation hub we were handed bags to carry all of our cruise swag. We were told that if we were staying at a Disney resort there was no need to head back to a park to catch a bus.  Buses were waiting right there at the ferry dock to take us back to our resorts.  It was an impressive touch.

Maybe we are just easily amused, or easily impressed, but we absolutely enjoyed the Ferrytale Wishes Cruise. It was fun, relaxing, and the drinks and desserts were yummy.It ended up being the perfect activity for our special anniversary evening. 

Extra Information

- Most of the people staked out spots on the seats. We claimed a spot on the life jacket container and it was perfect. Not only was it perhaps the best place for viewing the pageant and fireworks, the container acted as a handy table.

-Though there were kids on the cruise, they even had a special black light scavenger hunt for kids and adventurous adults, the cruise definitely had a more adult vibe, which being adults without kids, was appreciated.