But If We Leave Now, You Won't See Any Princesses-- An August 2016 Trip Report!

[abarriger]

Hi there and welcome to my first ever trip report!! Step one is to warn you that I am already dubious about my ability to finish this thing-- but I'm fresh from a nearly-perfect Disney adventure and I want to share it!

Introductions

The cast of characters is pretty small-- just me and my partner.

That's me-- Amy-- Abarriger-- your fearless author, preschool teacher, and Disney enthusiast.

I am the trip planner for all of our short-yet-magical Disney trips. I work full time at a day care and am finishing my masters degree in Early-Childhood/Special Ed at night-- so I'm busy. Disney is my respite, and my favorite thing.

I LOVE Frozen, princesses, and Cinderella castle. Magic Kingdom is my favorite park.

That's my girlfriend of (almost!) five years, Marjorie. (The one in blue. With glasses.) She is entering her fourth year of a phD program that consumes most of her life and time.

She has slowly come to love Disney over the past few years, but she certainly didn't start out as a Disney person. Three years ago her parents bought a house about two hours from Orlando, and that's the reason these trips really started in the first place.

She loves The Little Mermaid, Animal Kingdom, and *thinks* she loves scary rides (she doesn't, really. Stay tuned for a photo of her look of sheer terror riding Splash for the first time this trip.)

 

[abarriger]

Reserved for Chapter Links

 

[abarriger]

It's Finally Happening-- Arrival Day!

I'll start from the beginning-- because it makes sense-- but h TLDR, if you're only here for the real Disney stuff: we flew, it was early, we made it!

The night before we flew out was definitely the hardest part of the trip-- we had to bring our budgie, Kimchi, to the bird hotel/ vet. We've only had Kimchi for about a year, so this is the longest time we've ever left him.

He looks pretty grumpy in that picture-- he doesn't like the travel cage. He actually loved riding the subway (yup-- we don't have a car so we carried our bird on public transportation) and chirped only-a-little-obnoxiously the whole way to the vet.

Budgie left, we grabbed pizza on the train home and were in bed by 8:15 Pm-- we had a 6:30 flight.

We made it to the airport smoothly. We woke up at 4:00, but realized the trains didn't start running untill 4:50... (Rookie mistake) so we ended up ubering to the airport.

The uber driver was friendly--perhaps overly so-- and was FULL of wrong advice about our upcoming trip.

"Make sure you go to the Magic Kingdom on a Monday, so you can do those special extra magic hours!"

"You know that Hamburger shop in the magic kingdom? With the balcony? You can watch the fireworks there with no crowds!" (No clue what he meant there.)

"You should have stayed at that Caribbean Beach Resort-- it's the closest to all the parks!"

Anyway, we got there early, the security lines were not bad (despite ominous warnings from the airline) so we had about two hours to kill waiting for our flights. But it was fine because we were going to Orlando!

We boarded on time, I donned my mouse ears, and we were there in good time. We landed a little after 10:00.

I was overly excited about EVERYTHING-- the Magical Express desk, the fake monorail, the Disney walls-- EVERYTHING! Usually we fly to Tampa and drive to Disney halfway through our vacation, so this was our first time getting the whole MCO experience. The little things, I guess.

We were on a water park Magical Express Bus by 10:30.

What time will we arrive at POR?? Find out in our next installment!

 

[BippityBrittany]

can't wait to read more!

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Already enjoying your report x

 

[Catvondita]

following along!

 

[ariane37]

Following!

 

[abarriger]

Soo clearly I have abandoned this trip report just a little bit. But! I am back now and hope to continue updating it as a I relive the memories. There's a lot going on now, with wedding planning, graduate school back in session, etc... but when I miss Disney I like to relive these memories, so here goes!

When last I left you, we were on our way to Port Orleans. We were the last resort stop on the bus... After Old Key West and French Quarter. But in no time at all, we were seeing

I love the not-so-hidden Mickeys in the filigree in the lobby. We checked in, our room was not ready, but we were starving (even though it was barely 11:00, we had been up since 4:00, remember?) so we set off to Riverside Mill.

Funny story-- on our last trip, even though we were staying at AoA, we started our trip with a drive to Riverside Mill. Why? MICKEY WAFFLES. That's all. Today we were past breakfast, though. Instead, we went for... (be warned... I am not the best at remembering to take food pictures, so I don't capture every meal, and the photos aren't always great)

If you can't tell, that's a bacon cheeseburger under there. All of the lettuce they had out was in comically large pieces like that. But, I swear, it was excellent once we hacked the lettuce up a bit.

but... the picture doesn't really capture the glory of it. I love those Disney fries, though!

I also love this new business (well, new to us) of being able to do two desserts and use the mugs for the drink. We shared a piece of carrot cake for the time being, and held off on gobbling up the sprinkley Mickey cookie.

We enjoyed the meal, and could have eaten more, but wanted to save our tummy-space for our favorite Disney dinner. And by dinner I mean bread pudding.

Our room still wasn't ready, but we were so not upset because we were able to walk around a bit. We hadn't been there for more than 30 minutes when Marjorie remarked "I'm not sure we can stay value anymore..."

The weather was perfect, the sky was blue, and we had 3 days at Disney ahead of us, plus the remaining two weeks in Florida. It was a pretty happy moment.

After a walk, we were off to enjoy this amazing sight:

I have to admit, even though I am a fully grown woman, I enjoyed that slide 6 times in a row. (Marjorie only did it a few times.) We swam through the splashing fountains and were absolutely giddy. It was pretty amazing. Then we walked around the grounds a bit more, and stopped at an open hamock for a bit.

We were water logged and happy when the room ready text came in, and off we went to Acadian House to find our room!

The room was lovely, even if it overlooked a parking lot (hey, you get what you pay for, and I don't pay good Disney money towards views we barely look at anyway.) I loved the paintings on the headboards with the Princess and the Frog Details.

We rested for a bit, but not too long-- we had food to eat! and things to do! and food to eat!!

Next time: A brisk jaunt around Disney Springs.

 

[abarriger]

So clearly I have abandoned this trip report a bit! What can I say... wedding planning? Working full time? Graduate school? But anyway, we just came back from a mini-Florida vacation (we only visited Orlando for a few hours , but that was better than no hours!) which made me look back fondly on our last Disney trip (and think ahead to our next one, however far away it may be!) which got me looking back on photos, which led me to here.

So! Let's try this again!

After thoroughly enjoying the room, we were off to explore DS.

A major benefit of POR is the boat. We didn't spend that much time in POR, really, but I can't say how magical those little boat rides are: with the soft music playing, and the gentle breeze blowing... Definitely beats the buses, anyway!

You might notice the ominous clouds slowly moving in... A major theme of this Disney trip!


We loved the views, and M. was completely taken by the tree houses Saratoga Springs (I didn't even recognize this resort, despite all my Disney research!), which she said reminded her of Cape Cod. I feel as though I have never read a trip report from this resort. I had to break it to her that it was out of our price range!

This is our third year in a row visiting Disney, so we've really watched DS change and develop. I have vague memories of spending a lot of time in Downtown Disney on a low budget Disney trip (we only had one day park tickets, and DTD was free...) so I feel qualified to state how much of an improvement the new place is. We hit our favorite places: namely, World of Disney, so I could take a photo of Marjorie in her natural habitat

We strolled around a bit, in an aimless way (at least, I thought it was aimless.) Here's a few photos from our meandering.

Then, Marjorie steered us in a very particular direction to an area I was not totally familiar with... and we ended up at Sprinkles! (FYI, Marjorie and my first date was to a cupcake store.) She very romantically served me cupcakes and diet coke.

Something you should maybe know about Marjorie is that this is unusual behavior for her. At Disney, she goes with the program. She might make requests, or vaguely suggest places to go, but Disney planning is my thing. I tell her what to wear, where to be, and she shows up and comes along happily. But she doesn't read Disney Blogs or the DisBoards, and her knowledge tends to come second hand through me. So I was a little shocked when she took the lead and whisked us off next to.... Well, to an undisclosed location I will share in the next update Happy New Year!

 

[abarriger]

My general plan for the evening had been to return to POR before dinner at Ohana: but, as it turns out, Marjorie had other ideas. We left Sprinkles and she steered us to the bus area, and we walked right onto a bus headed to the Contemporary. Not what I had expected, but I was happy for the adventure.

And-- alas-- I don't have photos to capture this next part. The greatest part. The part where Marjorie (on the same day I was planning to propose to her, just a few hours later!!) led me up to the fourth floor of the Contempoary, where there was an observation deck looking out onto my castle, my favorite place in the world. The part where that observation deck was closed. The part where Marjorie panicked, and we walked through the bridge into BLT, where she found a window looking out onto the castle. The part where she proposed!! The part that was absolutely perfect. Clearly I said yes!

Stunned, happy, a little teary eyed, we boarded the monorail together.

M. had never ridden it before-- I remember it fondly from my childhood visit, with my train-obsessed father. I remember seeing the Contemporary and being so upset when I learned there were hotels "in" Disney World! Why would anyone stay anywhere else??

We got off at the Polynesian, of course. Ohana is the first table service restaurant either of us has ever eaten at, and it held a special place in our hearts even before this perfect dinner. But even moreso now! I was wearing my engagement ring, we were giddy with happiness, and we were eating... well, you know.

I

I told M. to take a picture of the ukulele player, who said "You want a picture? Lets make a picture." (you can probably see she is blushing here!!)

It was a perfect evening. I moved my chair closer to Marjorie, we were holding hands under the table-- and then the most amazing waiter came up to us. He said he had noticed us holding hands... he asked how long we had been together? And then he said "You don't need to hide... this is our time!" He told us about how he had eloped and married his partner earlier this year, told us to feel comfortable being out in public. We told him we were engaged-- in fact, he was the first person to know! We hadn't called our parents or our friends yet. He seemed so genuinely happy for us.The whole moment was so moving, particularly given the events in Orlando earlier that year, that both M. and I teared up.

Towards the end of the meal, he brought us both leis, and cupcakes. He told us there is a tradition to put a lei on your beloved and kiss them... so we both "leied" one another. It was just magic.

 

[ariane37]

OMG you just brought me to tears! Happy New Year and CONGRATULATIONS even though it's been a few months now lol. I hope the wedding planning is coming along! Not only do I remember how fun and stressful that can be at the same time, my stepson and his fiance are planning their wedding now and I see what they go through making and changing plans, getting excited and then discouraged because of $$, etc.
And all I'll say is never be afraid to show who you love! I'm glad that CM called you guys on it! Best of luck to the both of you in 2017 and I look forward to reading more about your trip

 

[abarriger]

OMG you just brought me to tears! Happy New Year and CONGRATULATIONS even though it's been a few months now lol. I hope the wedding planning is coming along! Not only do I remember how fun and stressful that can be at the same time, my stepson and his fiance are planning their wedding now and I see what they go through making and changing plans, getting excited and then discouraged because of $$, etc.
And all I'll say is never be afraid to show who you love! I'm glad that CM called you guys on it! Best of luck to the both of you in 2017 and I look forward to reading more about your trip

Thanks!! We are so happy-- and just remembering this day makes me happy. Our wedding planning is not so rough, honestly, as we are planning a small back yard affair, and my future Mother-in-Law is handling the majority of it... but somehow it still takes up a lot of our time! Anyway, I'm on a roll here, so here's the next update.


________________________

When last I left you, dear readers, M. had proposed, to me!! So we wrapped up our dinner and headed back to the Magic Kingdom, where we (sadly, since we had yet to step foot into a park!!) headed towards the bus depot and went straight back to Port Orleans.

We enjoyed the stroll a bit, and I held back so M. used her magic band to open the door. Because inside was waiting...

So, on the same day M. had proposed to me, we shared a special moment, inside our beautiful, perfect room. Clearly she said yes And after our special moment, we went to bed on the early side-- because we had a PPO breakfast the following day! Tune in to my next update to find out where. But I'll leave you with a photo that nicely sums up our practically-perfect day.

 

[ChaseTheWind]

What a lovely story of your engagement! Congratulations and much happiness to you! I hope you never have reason to feel anything other than proud to be who you are, proud to be with the one you love.

 

[gracer9977]

Congratulations!!! I love how you both proposed to each other on the same day. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

We were in Acadia at POR our last trip too. I love it there.

 

[abarriger]

What a lovely story of your engagement! Congratulations and much happiness to you! I hope you never have reason to feel anything other than proud to be who you are, proud to be with the one you love.

Thanks for your kind words! I honestly wasn't attempting to be closeted or anything (M. and I are pretty open!) but the lovely waiter did seem to perceive us that way. Generally I feel very safe showing my love in public, especially at Disney (though we keep it appropriate of course!)

Congratulations!!! I love how you both proposed to each other on the same day. Looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip.

We were in Acadia at POR our last trip too. I love it there.

I LOVE POR! Currently we're not planning on going back until 2018 given the wedding and everything but we're hoping to stay in POR again.

 

[abarriger]

Chapter 5: In Which we Finally Enter a Park!​

So, dear reader, I appreciate you following along so far. But I'm sure you must be thinking... "Will these crazy people ever go into a theme park?!?"

Maybe.

Okay, yes, yes we do.

The next day dawned and we were up at 6:30 am (not really a big deal for us, I work in day care and am generally up early) so we could be at the bus stop in order to make our pre-park opening breakfast reservation. This day was full of firsts-- the first time M. ever entered Epcot, the first time I've been there in 10 years or so, our first frozen ride, our first character meal.... Anyway.

Of course I was kind of intense about making us get out there early. We were at the bus stop just after 7 (it was a pretty short walk from the room.) I know everyone on the DIS says buses will be running that early, but of course I was nervous, so I figured I'd give it until 7:30 and then I'd Uber it.


We made good use of the time. Meaning we took selfies with our rings. But actually we did call both sets of parents (actually, our parents were together! for a craft fair in New Hampshire, so one phone call was enough) to share the good news. We were on a bus by 7:16, so listen to the DIS. Those early buses will come.

This is probably a good point to share that I was a little excited about Frozen Ever After. Frozen really spoke to me, and actually supplanted my childhood favorite (The Little Mermaid) as my current favorite Disney movie. And our trip was just a little after the new ride opened, and I was really really really set on riding it, and there were a lot of posts on the Dis about it being broken.... So I did a silly thing and booked us a character breakfast. M. was't thrilled to be doing something so childish, but I had a strong suspicion before the ride ever opened that breakfast at Akershus would make sure we could get on without a terrible line.

So, we were at Epcot before 8, in the early breakfast line.

Couldn't really beat the view.

They let us in a few minutes before 8, and the view was even better.

This is the point at which I tell M. we have to "use our advantage!"
Namely, our advantage is that we are pretty young and relatively fit, and we have no children or strollers to slow us down. We can move if we want to... and when I am trying to be first in line for Frozen, I MOVE! So we booked it through the park. With only the BRIEFEST of pauses for some really lousy ball selfies.

I told you it was lousy.

Even lousier, coming up...


....

....

.

I was trying to jump. Marjorie took this photo, and one where my shirt rolled up in a weird way, and then we decided we COULDN'T AFFORD TO WASTE ANY MORE TIME GETTING A JUMPING PHOTO so we continued speed walking.

In hind sight, I probably could have calmed down a bit. But my attitude is generally, when at Disney, THERE IS NO TIME TO BE CALM!

We made good time. Like, really good, first people there, probably could have taken a few more selfies, good. Seeing Frozen Ever After, right there... it was pretty exhilarating But we had a date with Belle!

.

Two things-- note my Magical Ribbons ears, with a bow to coordinate with Belle, and Marjorie's Magical Ribbons ears because...well, she's wearing them. She is not a mouse ears type of person. But I bought these ones before the trip and was able to convince her to wear them for a few photos.

Obligatory, we-just-got-engaged shot.

Overall... I love photos with the characters, but as an adult, lets be real, its a little awkward. I kind of appreciate the picture-and-move-on approach the princesses all seemed to take with us.


We were the first ones seated, and made pretty quick work of the lox on the buffet line. Honestly, minus the lox, I wasn't impressed with the buffet stuff... some limited fruit and mediocre muffins? I guess it's the experience you're paying for. I had read ahead of time on DFB about the lingonberry cream cheese, and lingonberry muffins... Neither of these were there. Nothing was bad, but we weren't blown away. The hot food was good, but pretty average I guess?

Let's be real, we weren't here for the food. And, for the record, sun-up to sun-down commando style touring isn't off to the best start with a pile of cheesy potatoes and eggs. But whatever. M. and I took turns going to the bathroom, because we didn't want to miss the princesses-- and while M. was in the bathroom, it happened! The moment you've been (probably not!) waiting for. The moment I came away from saying "Well, I have a trip report title."

In the bathroom, in true classic Disney Style, M. witnessed a temper tantrum. A sweet little girl in an Anna dress who was seated next to us had, apparently, had an accident. And, lets be clear, I am a preschool teacher, I know this stuff happens. And also as a preschool teacher, I know the importance of being prepared! But this family missed that memo, I guess, because, despite wearing a fancy Anna dress that I would imagine could be kind of hot, she had no other clothes. And so the mother was begging her not to make them leave, because... "If we leave now we won't see any princesses!"

... Anyway, sorry for that slightly icky story. Maybe some pretty princesses will make it better?

I used to work in a costume shop, and by far my favorite part of meeting princesses is seeing the exquisite workmanship on this gowns. They are incredible! I wish I could get inside and look at the seams! ... In a non creepy way. Cinderella asked if I knew her mouse friends, since I had on mouse ears.

Snow said... something, I'm not sure, but it was quick and I snagged the waiter to get a photo. And then... well, remember when I said I'm not totally calm at Disney? I started to get antsy. It was only about 8:30, but we weren't really here for the food. We were there to get on Frozen. I mean, we had a fastpass in the afternoon, but it was breaking down a lot back in those days, and I was kind of hoping for two rides. Ariel was greeting people behind us, and I do love Ariel, but I really was dying for Frozen... so, we did a thing. I got the check and we walked out, without meeting Ariel or whoever Princess number 5 was (I'm guessing Jasmine."

Overall Thoughts on Akershus: I don't know that I would go back, for breakfast at least. The buffet was disappointing, and the hot food was just fine, especially given the price. The princesses were great, but photos in a restaurant leave something to be desired (note the melon underneath my photo with Cindy...) so I think the only really great photo comes from the PP at the beginning. I'm glad we did it. Once.

Moving on.... Will we make it to FEA? Will it break down?

These questions, and more, will be answered in the next installment!