Flower & Garden Getting New Topiaries & Outdoor Kitchens; Expanded Bus Service Coming to Port Orleans Resorts

Flower & Garden Getting New Topiaries & Outdoor Kitchens for 2017:

The 2017 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will feature new outdoor kitchens and brand new topiaries.  The festival which begins March 1, 2017 will feature a 6-foot tall Figment topiary where he is balancing on a floral ball. This year's festival will delight you for 90 days. 

The Disney Parks Blog announced other new topiaries that will be featured at the festival include:

"Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy and Pluto will greet Epcot guests at the Epcot front entrance in a new topiary garden inspired by a vintage Walt Disney short film. Belle from the Oscar-winning Disney film “Beauty and the Beast” is getting a major topiary makeover, joining Snow White, Elsa and Anna as the next-generation “princess” topiary. In the “Cars”-themed interactive play garden: a new character topiary from the upcoming June 2017 release of “Cars 3” will join the gang."

The Festival Center this year will have expanded hours during the opening week of the festival from March 1 through March 5. For the remaining weeks, the center will be open Friday through Sunday. Two new Outdoor Kitchens will also be added to this year's festival. Guests will also be able grab a seat at the American Gardens Theatre for four days a week during the Festival. The Gardens Rock will have three concerts. 

The 2017 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will begin March 1 and run through May 29, 2017. 

Expanded Bus Service Coming to Disney's Port Orleans Resorts:

WDW News Today is reporting that an expanded bus service is coming to Disney's Port Orleans Resorts. An internal bus service is now available to guests daily beginning at 6:30 a.m. The internal bus will travel around all resort bus stops which includes French Quarter, Riverside North, South, East, and West. It will operate until 12:30 am Sunday-Thursday's and until 1:30 am on Friday's and Saturday's. 

Also to reduce wait times for resort guests at the Riverside South stop and allow guests from the North, East, and West stops to go directly to the park without having any additional stops by sending two Magic Kingdom busses to pick up Riverside guests. This is during the peak period from 8-11 am where one bus will pick up guests from the North, East, and West stops while the other bus will pick up guests at Riverside South. 

"Today's Special Moments, Are Tomorrow's Memories." Trip Report Part 2

Magic Kingdom:

We woke up early, so we could meet my sister, brother-in-law, and their kids at Magic Kingdom to celebrate my nephew's 13th birthday. After we all got done eating breakfast and getting ready we were off to the park arriving shortly after 9:30. I really couldn't complain about the weather just look how beautiful the sky looked entering into the park.

We headed straight to First Aid to drop off my insulin and my sister stopped at the bakery for some coffee for her and my mom. While waiting for my sister to get the coffee I captured some of the best photos I've ever taken. Check some of them out:

Once my sister came back with the coffee, it was time to head over to Adventureland to meet up with my nephew on his birthday along with the rest of my family. Walking through the park you just get this magical feeling inside of you that makes you so happy. I guess that's why they call it the most happiest place on Earth. So we headed over to the Jungle Cruise to meet up with everyone. 

After my sister's family got off the Magic Carpets, we headed over to Jungle Cruise to ride one of my favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom. It's also a classic ride that I believe is a must-do anytime you go to Disney World. 

After an amazing ride on the Jungle Cruise, we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, a ride I hadn't been on since two trips before that. It was down when I went in May. You still get wet if you're in the first row and the water is still collecting in the bottom of the boat. So even though they fixed the animatronics in the ride the boat issue still there. We then tried to get on the Haunted Mansion before lunch but the line was too long. We headed over to Tony's for our lunch with the birthday boy. 

I hadn't been to Tony's in years as I was disappointed the last time we went there. This time though it was quite good. I had the pepperoni pizza, my father had the sausage pizza, and my sister and mother both had the margarita pizza. My sister and brother-in-law had the chicken parmesan with a white sauce. The kids had spaghetti and chicken tenders and noodles. Everything was quite delicious. We even got a cake for Zachary, my nephew. The service was just wonderful.

After the wonderful lunch we rushed over to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for our FastPass. I know after riding this for the first time in May I said it was one of the best rides in Magic Kingdom, I stand by that statement. This was truly special as my youngest nephew Ben is now able to ride it. He loved it as he was sitting in the first row with my sister and had his hands up in the air the whole time. 

Once we got off the Mine Train it was time to go our separate ways for a little bit as we had different FastPasses. My Mom, Dad, sister and I headed over to Tomorrowland for our FastPass on Buzz. My Mom and I always have a little competition on this ride as its my most favorite ride at Magic Kingdom. I won this round as I do most other times. We then went to visit Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, another one of my favorite shows in the park. This show makes me laugh every time. Like Roz says in her raspy voice, "I'm watching, always watching Wazowski." 

It was then time to meet back up with my sister, her husband and the kids to go on some of nephew's favorite attractions. First up was my nephew's favorite show in Carousel of Progress. Now this isn't my favorite attraction but it is one of those classics I believe can't be passed up. My nephew if he could would ride this for hours upon hours. Next, was a FastPass for Splash Mountain. My sister, Zack, my niece Abby, and I went on. With how hot it was it was the perfect time for riding Splash Mountain. Plus with the heat, we dried off rather quickly.

We headed back to Tomorrowland to meet up with the rest of my family. It was then that I finally got my picture taken with Buzz Lightyear. Buzz is really my favorite Disney character of all time. This was my first time ever I got my picture taken with him as every time we go the line is usually crazy long. 

It was getting late as we had to be out of the park by 7 because we didn't have tickets to the final Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. My sister did however have tickets so we decided to get a family picture to remember the amazing time we had.

We then went our separate ways, my family is seriously the best. We may be imperfect at times but I wouldn't replace them in the whole world. My sister's family went to enjoy the party and we started to head out of the park. Before we left however we stopped in the emporium to buy some things. We then decided to head over to the Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cook's since we didn't have any reservations. 

Now the Polynesian is probably my family's resort to stay at so it wouldn't be a trip without at least visiting there. We headed over to take the monorail over. Once we arrived we headed downstairs to Captain Cook's. For dinner I had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich minus the pineapple salsa, it was delicious. I somehow failed to take any pictures at the Poly, major fail by me since its my favorite resort and the most beautiful. 

It was then time to head back to Port Orleans to rest up before we left the next day. It was a successful trip. I was sad that I was going home the next day and was thinking of when my next trip back to the World would be. The next day as I wrote in my resort review we just walked and toured around Port Orleans Riverside. By midday it was time to be picked up and head back to the airport to begin our trip back home to Pennsylvania. 

I finish this trip report with the title and what it means, "Today's special moments, are tomorrow's memories." This was said by the Genie in Aladdin and it holds so much meaning in this trip. The special moments with celebrating my nephew Zack's birthday in Disney World were truly special. The memories that were made I will cherish forever. 

"Today's Special Moments, Are Tomorrow's Memories." Trip Report Part 1

It's been two weeks now since I got back from Disney World, yes I know this should have been done sooner. Alas, though it is finally time to report on this wonderful short trip. We only spent two days in the parks, but it was an absolutely wonderful time celebrating my nephew's birthday in the most magical place on Earth. This trip was planned in two month's time and we surprised my nephew two weeks before hand. He was shocked and couldn't believe it and kept telling us that we were pulling an early April Fool's joke on him.

Enough of that however let's get onto the trip, as I stated in my resort review of Port Orleans Riverside, we didn't get to Disney until late afternoon on Friday, October 30. After a quick snack at our resort and checking out our room it was time to head to Disney Springs. I don't have much to report on from there as I failed to take any pictures. (Major FAIL) I can tell you though that the transformation from Downtown Disney into Disney Springs is absolutely beautiful. While I didn't get to check out the new restaurants or bars like Morimoto Asia, The BOATHOUSE, or even Jock Lindsey's I did get to try Earl of Sandwich for the first time ever.

I feel like a Disney amateur that I have never been to Earl of Sandwich before. Let's just put it this way my family and I hardly ever go to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs when we visit as we always are at the parks. With the short trip and arriving later than usual it was the perfect chance to visit the newly transformed Disney Springs. At Earl of Sandwich, I had the Chipotle Chicken Sandwich mine the avocado and chipotle sauce. If you know me I'm probably the pickiest eater you will ever meet but the sandwich got an A+ from me even without the avocado and the sauce.

We stayed at Disney Springs until about 9:00 and then headed back to the resort to get some rest after traveling most of the day. The next day we were heading to Epcot for my first ever experience of the International Food & Wine Festival. Yes, there were a lot of first's this trip.

Saturday:

After the previous day's trip to Disney Springs it was time to get to Epcot for one of the main reason's  in experiencing the International Food & Wind Festival. It was just a spectacular day, the weather was perfect. Check out this beautiful sky walking into Epcot.

After stopping for a quick bathroom break, my mother and I headed over to Test Track, one of my favorites in Epcot. While walking over to Test Track, the wait was only 30 minutes but right as we got over to step in line the wait shot up to 70 minutes. I noticed the single rider line was only 10 minutes so my mother and I jumped in that line. While in the single rider line you can't really customize your car but you can still choose one of the pre-made cars and attach it to your Magic Band. While my mom and I were separated once we got to ride, the ride was still amazing.

After that it was time for our fastpass at Spaceship Earth. It is pretty much a walk on to the ride when  you have a fastpass so we enjoy our ride into the future, that is not so futuristic anymore. It's always fun to ride through the past and beginning all the way to the present and into the future. We decided after the ride it was time to begin eating through the Food & Wine booths. 

One of the Cast Members made a recommendation that we begin by Mexico and work our way around the countries instead of by Canada because it's more crowded on that side. We started off at Farm Fresh booth where we ordered two orders of the Loaded Mac & Cheese with Bacon, Peppers, and Scallions. Let me tell you it started the bar high because it was amazing. We then headed to the Australia booth where my father, mother, and sister had the lamb. They enjoyed it but said the mac & cheese was better. 

After Australia we headed through Mexico and Norway where we didn't order anything. Then came China and the chicken pot stickers. Once again another delicious small bite to eat that was delicious. After walking through China we had reached the Outpost and the Africa booth. Here we decided to try to Buttered Chicken on Naan Bread. Unexpectedly, it was quite good and we moved on. We skipped the lines in Germany and Italy and headed to America. After taking a break from the sun and a bathroom break we decided to enter into the American Adventure and wait for the next show. Here are some pictures of inside one of the most classic attractions in Epcot.

It was time to head upstairs to listen to the Voices of Liberty before the show. Since my dad is in a wheelchair you really get to hear the music even better upstairs. It is truly inspirational and like I said back in May it really makes you feel honored to be an American.

Once they were done singing, we headed into the theater for the show. It was the middle of the afternoon once the show was done it was time to eat some mid afternoon snacks. We hit the Belgium and Brazilian booths next. In Belgium, it was the Belgium waffles with chocolate and fruit and in Brazil we sampled the baked cheese bread. I just had the cheesy bread from Brazil another one of my favorites from festival. My parents and sister both said the Belgium waffles were very good. It was France next for the Braised Short ribs in Cabarnet with mashed potatoes and the creme brûlée. While once again I didn't taste the items in France I was told again that they were excellent. 

By then it was almost time for our fastpass at Soarin' but before then we headed over to the Imagination pavilion to ride Figment. It's like how can you go to Epcot and not ride Figment. After Figment, we headed over to Soarin' to ride it one last time before it becomes Soarin' Over the World. Soarin's one of those rides that is literally breathtaking. I hope the new version is just as good as this attraction is.

After Soarin', we headed over to First Aid to pick up my insulin and then it was time for some dinner.  For dinner it was the Canada, Hawaii, and for dessert a Croissant Donut. In Hawaii, I had the Kalua Pork Slider and once again I wasn't disappointed. Then to Canada where I had the "Le Cellier" wild mushroom beef filet with a truffle butter sauce. Let me just tell you as I'm sure you all know that it was probably the best thing I had. I even went back to the booth for a second order. 

Of course after dinner it was getting late and we started heading out to the beginning of the park. We walked through MouseGears and it was time to say goodbye to a perfect day in Epcot and enjoy the Halloween festivities at our resort. 

My Stay at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside 10/30-11/2

This weekend I had the pleasure of staying for the first time ever at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside. I had a wonderful time celebrating my nephew's 13th birthday with my family. It was a trip with memories that will last forever. I will talk more about the trip itself in my trip report that is coming up. Now, though I will talk about Port Orleans Riverside and how great my stay was.

Without going into to much detail, our flight left out of our local airport at around 11:20 a.m. and we arrived at the Orlando/Sanford airport shortly after 2 p.m. By the time we gathered our luggage and met with the shuttle driver who would be taking us to Port Orleans. We arrived at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside after about an hour drive. We were already checked in as I had checked in online so we decided to get something quick to eat since we had a light lunch at the airport.

We headed over to the Riverside Mill Food Court and ordered some chicken breast nuggets. While we were ordering, I received a text message that our room was ready. Our room was in the Alligator Bayou Section in Building 27 and Room number 2714. After eating, I swear Disney has best chicken breast nuggets ever, we headed over to our home away from home for the weekend.

The room was a standard room that was handicap accessible for my dad. We unpacked and relaxed for about a half hour before we decided to head over Disney Springs. I will go into more details about my visits to Disney Springs and the parks in my Trip Report. The room had two queen size beds and the bathroom had a walk-in handicap accessible shower with chair to sit down. By the time we got back from Disney Springs we were exhausted so we all washed up and showered to get some sleep before we headed over to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival in the morning.

We woke up and walked down to breakfast at the Riverside Mill Food Court again. I had a Bacon, Egg, & Cheese Sandwich on white bread. It was delicious. We then proceeded back to the room for my father to have his breakfast and then headed to Epcot. We got to the park around 10 and were there for about 9 hours. We then headed back to the hotel to enjoy the Halloween festivities at the hotel. Here are some of the pumpkins created by the staff.

Being at Disney World during Halloween was truly a special experience and Port Orleans was great. They even had Goofy their to meet & greet with resort guests. I'm not going to lie we returned to our room and watched football the rest of the night. We followed the next morning up by waking up a little earlier to try to get to Magic Kingdom as early as possible to celebrate my nephew's birthday. We didn't have tickets to the Mickey's Not-So-Scary so we were out of the park by 6:00. We then headed over to the Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cook's. After a long day by 8:00 we were ready to return to our room.

We had a surprise from our cleaning crew when we got back a Mickey head-shaped towel.

Monday was our final day at Port Orleans so I took the morning since we were leaving for airport at 11:30 to take some photos of our room and the resort. So here are some of the pictures that I took.

First of the room:

Now of around the resort:

Overall, it really was a great stay at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside and I would recommend others to stay there. I really have no complaints which just shows how much I enjoyed it there. Only inconvenience was one bathroom in the room, but that can't be changed. My family is used to staying at Art of Animation, so we are a bit spoiled. Disney's Port Orleans Riverside has such beautiful scenery and really feels like you are on the Bayou in Louisiana. I give Port Orleans Riverside an A+ rating.