My Bougie Pampered Queen Solo Holiday Trip Completed 1/8

[KaSe]

Hello, Friends!


My name is Kimberly & this is my very first trip report! I've read a lot of your reports through the years & have thoroughly enjoyed taking those trips with you, so I decided to do my own. I hope you enjoy following along, too.

GENERAL INFO:
First, some information about me. I live in northwestern Illinois, right on the Iowa border. I work in marketing & design for a professional theater, and I'm married with two adult daughters. I've been going to WDW since I was a kid in the 1970s, brought my own daughters throughout the years & now we're all proud Disney adults.

A great pic of the three of us even though they weren't with me this trip
​

But this trip was my first solo trip! I contacted my travel agent last summer & told him I wanted to go with a moderate resort & do more of a resort trip where I could relax, enjoy the atmosphere, and just soak in the holiday decorations & magic. When the girls & I do Disney, we hit the parks HARD, but, I was looking for something different this trip. With a laugh, I told him I was looking for a trip that made me feel like a Bougie Pampered Queen. He immediately booked me into a Princess Room at Port Orleans Riverside. And thus my bougie pampered queen holiday trip was born.

FUN DISNEY INFO:
Favorite Park: Tie between MK and Epcot
Favorite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favorite Character - Mickey or Minnie. And seeing them together makes me squeal
Favorite Disney Movie: Monsters Inc.
Favorite Disney snack: Dole Whip
Favorite earworm of a song: Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Favorite Disney Musical: Newsies

 

[snowwite]

Hello, Friends!

View attachment 818946
My name is Kimberly & this is my very first trip report! I've read a lot of your reports through the years & have thoroughly enjoyed taking those trips with you, so I decided to do my own. I hope you enjoy following along, too.

GENERAL INFO:
First, some information about me. I live in northwestern Illinois, right on the Iowa border. I work in marketing & design for a professional theater, and I'm married with two adult daughters. I've been going to WDW since I was a kid in the 1970s, brought my own daughters throughout the years & now we're all proud Disney adults.

View attachment 818955

A great pic of the three of us even though they weren't with me this trip
​

But this trip was my first solo trip! I contacted my travel agent last summer & told him I wanted to go with a moderate resort & do more of a resort trip where I could relax, enjoy the atmosphere, and just soak in the holiday decorations & magic. When the girls & I do Disney, we hit the parks HARD, but, I was looking for something different this trip. With a laugh, I told him I was looking for a trip that made me feel like a Bougie Pampered Queen. He immediately booked me into a Princess Room at Port Orleans Riverside. And thus my bougie pampered queen holiday trip was born.

FUN DISNEY INFO:
Favorite Park: Tie between MK and Epcot
Favorite Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Favorite Character - Mickey or Minnie. And seeing them together makes me squeal
Favorite Disney Movie: Monsters Inc.
Favorite Disney snack: Dole Whip
Favorite earworm of a song: Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Favorite Disney Musical: Newsies

My solo trip will be next year. I can’t wait to hear how yours goes!

 

[Newsies]

Following along!

 

[footballmouse]

My first solo trip is scheduled for January, however I'm only doing 1 day. Looking forward to reading how your trip went.

 

[Ann-CA]

I remember reading about your trip and that Princess POFQ in the solo forum!

I’ll be going January solo also, but it’s going to be like your trip with your daughters - running hard. I’d love a pampered trip (I have two toddlers at home) but I haven’t done WDW in maybe 25 years! So will live vicariously through your report.

Looking forward to reading.

 

[KaSe]

My solo trip will be next year. I can’t wait to hear how yours goes!

Welcome! Spoiler alert: It was amazing & I already want to do it again!!

Following along!

Welcome! From your user name alone, I see we're destined to be besties!

My first solo trip is scheduled for January, however I'm only doing 1 day. Looking forward to reading how your trip went.

Welcome! One day at Disney is still one GOOD day!

I remember reading about your trip and that Princess POFQ in the solo forum!

I’ll be going January solo also, but it’s going to be like your trip with your daughters - running hard. I’d love a pampered trip (I have two toddlers at home) but I haven’t done WDW in maybe 25 years! So will live vicariously through your report.

Looking forward to reading.

Welcome! This was definitely a different trip than I was used to, but holy cannoli, it was a GREAT trip! So excited for you & your January trip -- After 25 years, you deserve some amazing Disney time!

 

[Nicnicnic.nic]

Following

 

[disneyAndi14]

I’m joining in. I did a solo trip last December and really loved it!

 

[happily single]

Following. My last solo trip included a PO Princess Room

 

[KaSe]

Following

Yay! Welcome!

I’m joining in. I did a solo trip last December and really loved it!

Welcome Andi's Mom!!! I'm honored! I've enjoyed so many of your trip reports!

Following. My last solo trip included a PO Princess Room

Welcome! And fun! It will be interesting to hear your experience with them too!

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[KaSe]

November 26 & 27
TRAVEL DAY & DAY 1
We have a small regional airport where I live, but I've learned through the years that it's just too stressful worrying about connecting flights if/when our flights are delayed or whatever. So I prefer to drive the 2 1/2 hours to the Chicago suburbs the day before my flight, stay overnight at one of the hotels near the airport with a park & fly option, and fly out of Chicago Midway (for any of you in the Midwest, I MUCH prefer Midway over O'Hare. It's just so much easier all around) So, if I'm staying overnight in a hotel, that's the start of vacation, right? ABSOLUTELY! I got loads of "Have a good time" hugs and "Bring me something" cheers from the family, pressed play on one of my downloaded Disney podcasts & hit the road about 1:30 on Sunday, Nov. 26. It was an easy, uneventful drive & I arrived at the hotel about 4:00, grabbed some Cajun chicken & shrimp pasta from the TGIFriday's next door & settled in for the evening. I didn't think to take a photo because I clearly wasn't in the zone yet. LOL! But here's TGIFriday's photo of it. Mmmmm!!!



I honestly can't remember what I watched on TV while I ate -- I know it was something on HGTV. After dinner, I did my nails so they would be Disney ready. I did not do the artwork; they're Color Street. And, spoiler alert, they match my mouse ears!


Then, I snuggled down into the blankets to watch Elf on a Shelf: Sweet Showdown on the Food Network to kick off that festive spirit before my early bedtime.

The next morning, I was up at 3:15 a.m. & took the hotel shuttle to the airport at 4 a.m.


Here's me, in the hotel lobby waiting for the shuttle, SO EXCITED!! There are a lot of this same style of photo for this trip. I considered calling the trip report "Me and a Tree." The shuttle arrived at the airport just after 4 a.m., I checked my bags with Southwest, went through TSA precheck & was waiting at my gate by 4:45. So easy! It was so easy I wished I'd slept another 15 minutes. We took off on time for my 5:45 flight, where I promptly fell back asleep & landed in Orlando at 9:45 a.m. Those mouse ears go on as soon as the wheels touch the tarmac!


Grabbed my luggage, headed back through to Mears, waited less than 10 minutes for the bus & we were on our way to PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE for the next 6 days!!

I'm home!!!​

I got a text notification while I was on the bus that my room was ready, so I went straight to my room to drop stuff off about 11 a.m. All in all, a perfect, smooth travel morning!


This was the first thing I saw after walking through the lobby. So beautiful!


Home for the next week! I took a photo of my room number & texted it to the girls to be funny because I am TERRIBLE about remembering our room number & the girls are usually in charge of remembering it. But since I'm staying here by myself, obviously, it was all up to me this time. I told the girls that as long as no one swept up the beignet crumbs between the lobby & my door, I'd be fine all week.


(continued in next post)

 

[KaSe]

Day 1 continued

I thought the Princess room was absolutely adorable! So charming!! Loved all the details, like the photos & the faucets, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get my own headboard at home that lights up with fireworks. LOL! If you have little princesses, they would be in heaven here for sure!


Seriously! How cute are these?!

The other thing I will say about the room here at POR, is that while I really liked the room, I'm glad it was just me. We're used to staying at Pop Century or ASMovies & I love the refurbished rooms. There are so many more places at the value resort rooms for storing things, plugging in phones, etc., I like the nightstands on the sides both beds & the coffeemaker is on its own cart where it's already plugged in & we always put our snacks & breakfast items on the cart shelves. With the coffemaker next to the TV in this room, there was no where close by to plug it in, so I had to move it to the table instead. Plus with the 2nd bed being a murphy bed in the value resorts, I would have just kept it up and used the table so there would be more floor space. The 2nd bed in POR is just wasted space with it being just me. It's not really a complaint about these rooms, just an observation that these are more like the value rooms before they refurbished them & I can guarantee we would have all been fighting over places to plug stuff in & store our clothes in those 3 drawers. LOL
After checking out my bougie room, it was time to explore my resort & have some lunch!

The view from my room!

 

[KaSe]

I meandered along the river path to the French Quarter. I'd had my eye on that prime rib sandwich for a long time & today was a good day for trying it. It was REALLY good! And I had a yummy Mickey cheesecake for dessert.







After lunch, I wandered back to POR & enjoyed a few hours just sitting by the pool enjoying the beautiful sunny 68 degree day.

 

[VAtink]

Following along!

 

[KaSe]

When the sun started going down & it started getting a little colder, it was time to head over to Disney Springs on that fabulous ferry I've heard so much about.

We don't often spend a lot of time in Disney Springs, but it was just me doing what I wanted & I definitely wanted to try the ferry and I wanted to wander through the Christmas tree stroll, just enjoy the atmosphere. Plus, I haven't been to Gideon's Bakehouse and I absolutely wanted to try them!

I waited in line about 15 minutes, which isn't bad at all & they really did not disappoint! I bought the banana bread chocolate chip cookie (a decadent Vanilla Bean Cookie blended with bananas, a mix of dark and semisweet chocolates, candied walnuts, and finely crushed banana chips) & the Cookie Von Krampus (dark chocolate with Andes mints). I didn't eat them right away; I was going to bring them back to the room for later. Looking back, I absolutely wish I'd bought 4 more to take home! Since I was right there next to Winebar George, I absolutely needed to try the Frozcato Mimosa (Mimosa made with Dole Whip pineapple Moscato, pineapple and Prosecco). That was fantastic & I sent pictures of drinking that to make the girls jealous -- like any good mom, really. LOL!!



Decided to stop at Cookes of Dublin for some fish & chips, wandered through more of the Christmas tree stroll, stopped to listen to the band playing at the Waterfront Stage & then decided it was time to head back to the room so I could unpack & head to bed. It had been a very long & full day of pure happiness!





Best cookie of my LIFE!! I really had to refrain from eating the whole thing.

 

[KaSe]

Following!

Welcome!

Following along!

Welcome!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Great start to your trip report. I am going on my first solo trip in January, but am doing a very parks heavy trip. A relaxing trip sounds lovely, maybe next time for me. Can’t wait to read more!

 

[footballmouse]

Awe, now you're making me wish I was staying for more than 1 day!!!! Oh well, next time.

 

[suse66]

Joining to hear all about your first (not last) fabulous solo trip!! I adore solo trips so can’t wait to hear all about yours!