Down by the Riverside (and Fort): A TCD End of Summer Trip Report

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Princess and the Frog took place in Louisiana right? So you have one princess with a plantation theme. I wonder if they got the Oak motif from Oak Alley Plantation. It has rows of Oak trees very similar to that.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

a picture of oak alley found in google images

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Somehow I ended up with a double post of my last update.

Weird.

So, I deleted the double post.

I'll use this space to say that the "mansions" remind me of frat houses.

I'll stick with Alligator Bayou in the future, thank you very much.

TCD

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm thinking the princess rooms might be related to The Princess and the Frog. Great pictures but boy I'm tired from all the walking :rofl:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Princess and the Frog took place in Louisiana right? So you have one princess with a plantation theme. I wonder if they got the Oak motif from Oak Alley Plantation. It has rows of Oak trees very similar to that.

You are right about that. But, Princess and the Frog themed rooms would work better in the French Quarter part of the resort.

a picture of oak alley found in google images

So where is this?

It does look like Disney modeled their Oak building and grounds after this.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

southern louisiana. I have seen it in person.. let me look up the exact local

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Vacherie, Louisiana

Oak Alley

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

I love these light posts (note I did not say poles S70):

TCD

That's good, because all poles have to be out by 2:30 :rofl2:

[stefa70 205]

It really is a beautiful resort. I like the bridge across the river and the gazebos. (I got married in a gazebo in the water :-* )

I'm pretty sure the Disney decision making process went something like this:

What resort could use an overhaul?

How can we make more $$ ?

Which resort has a few extra rooms to spare?

How can we make more $$ ?

Let us make Princess rooms!

Will it make more $$ ?

We can put fiber optics over the bed like fireworks!!

Yay!! More $$$$ !

Obviously I'm not the princess type, but I'm sure some great Disney dad will spend the money to take his little princess there, so who am I to question it?

May I just imagine that you said poles?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Vacherie, Louisiana

Oak Alley

Very interesting. The architecture here is very similar to that at Oak Alley.

According to your link, the Oaks at Oak Alley are believed to be 300 years old.

So I guess we will need to wait a bit until the trees at POR catch up.

That's good, because all poles have to be out by 2:30 :rofl2:

Another good one Ed!

You are on fire lately, bro!

It really is a beautiful resort. I like the bridge across the river and the gazebos. (I got married in a gazebo in the water :-* )

I'm pretty sure the Disney decision making process went something like this:

What resort could use an overhaul?

How can we make more $$ ?

Which resort has a few extra rooms to spare?

How can we make more $$ ?

Let us make Princess rooms!

Will it make more $$ ?

We can put fiber optics over the bed like fireworks!!

Yay!! More $$$$ !

Obviously I'm not the princess type, but I'm sure some great Disney dad will spend the money to take his little princess there, so who am I to question it?

May I just imagine that you said poles?

Very good post.

Very true about the $$$$.

I saw that rates on these rooms will start at $189 a night.

For a moderate resort.

Ca-Ching!

And sorry, I did not say poles and you can't imagine that I did either.

You already made a reference to big balls today.

You have met your quota.

Sorry.

Maybe I will post a photo of some poles tomorrow.

TCD

[lklasing 16]

Oh my gravy, I'm mortified. I've been tied up with work and a variety of things (happily, including planning what will hopefully be a big family trip on the Disney Dream next summer), but here I am just now tuning in to a TCD report on page 8 9 (even worse!). I'm appalled.

Having said that, I'm so glad to have found this! Awesome report, and I'm especially happy to learn all about POR! I've pegged that as the moderate we would choose, so I'm very glad to learn all about it, renovations and all.

Better late than never. Looking forward to more!

Leslie

[TheLug 10]

1. You snooze. You lose.

2. Egg roll stands? I don't think I have even seen one. And I know I have never gotten an egg roll at WDW. But, I would like to try one. The Noodle Station on the way to Tomorrowland was the same way for us- I really wanted to try it, but it was never open. I have heard good things about the tacos, too. Mark my words, I am going to get one of those danged tacos soon!

TCD

The egg roll stands are in-between the tiki room and the dole whip pineapple stand. They are tasty. They also have good corn dogs.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Princess themed rooms?

They are just trying their hardest to separate me from my money, aren't they?

I hate Disney.

[TheLug 10]

Just to document it, we went by the Fishing Hole on the way to the pool. A couple of folks were fishing. None of them were catching:

TCD

You know I couldn't place it but I just figured it out.

This picture and the last picture of the fishing hole that is being lied about on the fort page reminded me of somewhere. I couldn't place it until now. It reminds me of the river country nature walk along bay lake.

[Sunset Lady 6]

I am really enjoying your trip report TCD, bringing back good memories from our trips to POR.

We have stayed in each of the Mansions that you have mentioned in your report. They do remind me of Gone With the Wind, I really enjoyed staying in them. Everyone likes different things, thats what makes the world go round and in this case Disney wealthy : ) !

I had a couple of pictures from our trip that were cool. I hope its okay to add them here. If not I will delete, I don't want to hijack your report.

Here is a hidden mickey, this is the railing from the mansions:

And here is the same quiet pool at night:

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

[Lou... 3,118]

Here is a hidden mickey, this is the railing from the mansions:

The "Hidden or Deliberate Mickey Judge", I bet you didn't know there was one, has ruled that the hidden Mickey in the photo is actually a Deliberate Mickey.

As always, you can file an appeal.

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

All the large posts in that railing have a Mickey Head ... sorry, I agree with Lou - Deliberate Mickey.

TCD - Notice I didn't mention poles, either :rofl2:

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

The "Hidden or Deliberate Mickey Judge", I bet you didn't know there was one, has ruled that the hidden Mickey in the photo is actually a Deliberate Mickey.

As always, you can file an appeal.

All the large posts in that railing have a Mickey Head ... sorry, I agree with Lou - Deliberate Mickey.

TCD - Notice I didn't mention poles, either :rofl2:

Don't mind them Sunset Lady, one is snarky and the other has a pole fixation :rofl2:

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Don't mind them Sunset Lady, one is snarky and the other has a pole fixation :rofl2:

Lou has a pole fixation? I didn't know that! :rofl2:

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Oh my gravy, I'm mortified. I've been tied up with work and a variety of things (happily, including planning what will hopefully be a big family trip on the Disney Dream next summer), but here I am just now tuning in to a TCD report on page 8 9 (even worse!). I'm appalled.

Having said that, I'm so glad to have found this! Awesome report, and I'm especially happy to learn all about POR! I've pegged that as the moderate we would choose, so I'm very glad to learn all about it, renovations and all.

Better late than never. Looking forward to more!

Leslie

You don't show up until page 9?

Boy, you are slipping!

That's great news about your planned cruise!

I'm sure your gang will love it!

So what changed? I remember a comment from you a while back that your DH would never go for a cruise.

As for POR, read on. There's a lot more info to come.

The egg roll stands are in-between the tiki room and the dole whip pineapple stand. They are tasty. They also have good corn dogs.

OK, I know exactly where you are talking about, but I don't remember seeing these stands. But, I'll be sure to look for them now.

Princess themed rooms?

They are just trying their hardest to separate me from my money, aren't they?

I hate Disney.

Yeah. You're in trouble buddy.

But, what about refurbishing your new camper with a princess theme? I'm not sure how fiber optics work, but if it would help, I'd be happy to stand outside the camper and light off some illegal fireworks for your girls.

You know I couldn't place it but I just figured it out.

This picture and the last picture of the fishing hole that is being lied about on the fort page reminded me of somewhere. I couldn't place it until now. It reminds me of the river country nature walk along bay lake.

Yes, it does look similar to the old River Country and Wilderness Swamp Trail boardwalks that used to be at Fort Wilderness.

But, the management at POR maintains their facilities, while the Fort management neglects theirs.

Here is the former Wilderness Swamp Trail boardwalk circa 2005 (these photos were taken by fellow Fiend Discamper- but I stole them from him a while ago):

As we all know, the Wilderness Swamp trail is gone, as is the boardwalk from the River Country nature trail.

Boo Fort management!

I am really enjoying your trip report TCD, bringing back good memories from our trips to POR.

We have stayed in each of the Mansions that you have mentioned in your report. They do remind me of Gone With the Wind, I really enjoyed staying in them. Everyone likes different things, thats what makes the world go round and in this case Disney wealthy : ) !

I had a couple of pictures from our trip that were cool. I hope its okay to add them here. If not I will delete, I don't want to hijack your report.

Here is a hidden mickey, this is the railing from the mansions:

And here is the same quiet pool at night:

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

This is not a hijack!

This is right on topic, and i appreciate the photos. Thanks for posting them.

As I mentioned, I prefer the look and feel of the Alligator Bayou section of POR, but maybe I will try the mansion section some time.

The "Hidden or Deliberate Mickey Judge", I bet you didn't know there was one, has ruled that the hidden Mickey in the photo is actually a Deliberate Mickey.

As always, you can file an appeal.

Oy!

I don't understand the distinction between a DM and a HM.

Aren't all HM's DM's?

All the large posts in that railing have a Mickey Head ... sorry, I agree with Lou - Deliberate Mickey.

TCD - Notice I didn't mention poles, either :rofl2:

Thanks for the no-pole mention, Ed.

Don't mind them Sunset Lady, one is snarky and the other has a pole fixation :rofl2:

LOL!!

Lou has a pole fixation? I didn't know that! :rofl2:

LOL^2!!!

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Hey Lou,

I hate to ask this... but has a parent forgot to remove the child before folding the stroller? If that happened in front of you how in the world did you keep a straight face?

[TheLug 10]

Hey Lou,

I hate to ask this... but has a parent forgot to remove the child before folding the stroller? If that happened in front of you how in the world did you keep a straight face?

HAHAHAHA I cant wait to hear the response to this!!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time to finish up with the walking tour of POR.

We left off at the Oak building.

Now, we are in the area called Parterre.

I don't know where that name comes from.

Is it the name of some place that has a plantation?

I don't know.

The word apparently refers to a specific type of formal garden.

Maybe they call it Parterre because they have those types of gardens around here.

Anyway, this may be the nicest looking of all the mansions:

There are a lot of low brick walls used around here. I think this is a characteristic of parterre gardens:

Here is the view of the river from this part of the resort:

We are directly across the river from the main entry area for the resort. Here you can see a DCL bus heading toward the main building:

The path ends just past the Parterre buildings. But, there is a bridge crossing the river here. The only thing is you can't cross it with a Pargo or Cushman:

I think Pargos and Cushmans are types of golf carts. I wonder why they just didn't say no electric carts like they do at the Fort.

You can see the French Quarter resort from the bridge:

Here we see the ferry boat cruising back toward POR:

Once you cross the bridge, there is a walkway leading back to the main area of the resort:

Here we are looking back at the bridge we just crossed. This walkway leads to the French Quarter:

A thoughtful castmember put a sign here in case you can't remember which way to go:

You can see all of the mansions that we just walked past as you head back toward the main area:

The landscaping along this walkway is very nice. It's a pleasant walk:

Here's another area to sit and take a puff:

There's the Parterre building across the river. It looks nice, doesn't it?:

There goes another surrey!:

I would say that if you are interested in renting a surrey, this would be a nice place to do so. Much more to see than at the Wilderness Lodge.

Here's a nice sycamore tree:

Here's another bench to take a rest if you would like. Note the beautiful plants in pots around it:

Here we are back at the main area of the resort. This is the marina building. This is where you come to rent boats, bikes, surreys, and catch the ferry to Downtown Disney:

Over here, you can see Boatwright's Restaurant and the Mill:

Here's a photo of the map they have posted in this area. It kind of gives you and idea of the comparative size of the two resorts. On the map, French Quarter looks big, but note that they have a very big parking lot for some reason. The actual guest room area is small- maybe half the size of the Riverside area of the resort:

I wonder why French Quarter is so much smaller than Riverside? I wonder if there was a plan at some time to expand the French Quarter area? That would explain the large parking lot.

Here is the ferry taking off to carry guests to Downtown Disney:

Another shot of the Boatwright's exterior. I will have some shots of the interior later on:

They offer carriage rides here in the evening. This sign gives the details:

And, now I am heading back to our room in Alligator Bayou:

That concludes our walking tour.

Thanks for joining me.

From here, it was time to get back to the room to decide what we would be doing this afternoon.

As I mentioned earlier, the two suggestions from the twins were Downtown Disney or Epcot.

Next up, we make our decision and head out.

And don't forget, there is a lot more to come.

Like our search for the other twin's T-shirt.

And, my excursion to Fort Wilderness.

TCD

[Lil Lisa 53]

Lovin it! Keep it coming!! I need entertainment for three days.

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Time to finish up with the walking tour of POR.

Now, we are in the area called Parterre.

I don't know where that name comes from.

Is it the name of some place that has a plantation?

I don't know.

The word apparently refers to a specific type of formal garden.

Maybe they call it Parterre because they have those types of gardens around here.

TCD

Good guess. A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all ...