Captain Obvious Turns Prince Skeptical into a Disney Guy...kinda

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

Hi everyone!

I've been obsessed with Disney for as long as I can remember, though the true love began in high school, and a Disboards lurker on-and-off for the last few years. I've been on three Disney trips in that time (making a lifetime total of four, heavily skewing towards the last three that I've paid for and planned myself).

DISNEY FOR LIFE.

Anyway, I've decided to finally de-lurk to try my hand at my - drumroll, please - first ever trip report!

I'm a graduating college senior and celebrated my last spring break ever with a trip to Disney World from March 18-23 with my wonderful boyfriend, Prince Skeptical (then we had been dating for 7 months and officially together for about 3.5, since December).

Here's us!

Me: 21 (now, the trip was a week before my 21st birthday), writer, nerd, senior at Harvard (concentrating in human evolutionary biology), and Disney obsessed (also, Christmas obsessed - but that's not related to this). I'm vegetarian and eat dairy, but my stomach doesn't get along with cheese/cream and I avoid eggs (though I'll eat them if they're baked into something). I don't have a favorite character, they're all pretty cool! I was going through a huge Frozen obsession (still am, tbh) at the time. Epcot and Magic Kingdom are my favorites!

Him: 20, loves Star Wars, all things science fiction, and Asian food. Is adventurous, loves books, works in finance, and is generally AWESOME. This was his first time in Disney! He's kosher, but unfortunately we didn't order kosher meals in advance, as we thought it might be limiting. Next time I definitely will call ahead, though, because he got a bit tired of vegetarian entrees or salmon for every meal!

It was our first trip together! And quite possibly my favorite vacation/favorite Disney vacation ever.

Bear with me, since this is my first time trying doing a trip report and I decided to do so after the trip (because I want to relive some of the awesomeness and share it with you guys, as you have shared your wonderful memories with me).

We split the stay between All Star Movies (first) and Animal Kingdom Lodge, aka my ***FAVORITE HOTEL IN THE WORLD***. I'm from South Africa and half-Zimbabwean, so maybe it's in my blood? Maybe it's just because it's awesome, but I'll take any excuse I can get.

We spent lots of time in the resorts, Downtown Disney, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom. And Prince Skeptical had a good time!

I'm not sure how many photos I actually have that I can include, but feel free to give me direction in the comments if there's anything you're particularly interested in knowing/hearing about!

Thanks for reading!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

We started off our trip on Saturday night, with an evening flight down to Jacksonville, FL from Boston. Since it was spring break and I'd never done the traditional American spring break thing before, we though it would be nice to get in some beach time.

Spoiler alert: it rained. For 2/3 days. The photo above was from the like one (still cold) sunny day. We still had a lovely time, though, even as the only young people in the whole town! We even got to take a surfing lesson (first time ever for us!) and LOVED it.

Prince Skeptical is pretty athletic (he was a varsity athlete!), so he was awesome at the pop ups and nailed surfing on the first go, managing to ride several waves from start to finish. I kept jumping up onto my board - and missing it. Flop into the water! I still had a blast.

We decided that we definitely want to take more surfing lessons when we get the chance again!

The food was great and the hotel was lovely...

...but we really just wanted to get to Disney! We were taking the Tuesday afternoon Greyhound...dum-dum-dum-dum (Jaws theme song of horror).

That's where the title comes in. After getting to the station on time with all of our stuff (we cabbed over, it took ~40 minutes from the Sawgrass Marriott Golf & Spa Resort, where we were staying) we boarded the bus - only to realize our tickets were missing!

Prince Skeptical swore up and down that he handed them to the driver, but the driver said he gave them back to Prince Skeptical, so we frantically searched through our stuff.

OH NO! Would we get to Disney?

After much frantic searching, the bus driver realized that he put them in his pocket and hadn't actually given them back to Prince Skeptical. We cold have been peeved, but we were just thrilled that it all got worked out. We were on our way to Disney World!

The ride was surprisingly quick, easy, and uneventful. We chatted, Prince Skeptical napped, and I daydreamed about Disney. The last hour or so, I was way too excited to sit still! Poor Prince Skeptical, haha.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

We were thrilled when we arrived at Disney All Star Movies the afternoon before - I had never been to a Disney Value Resort (and he had never been to a Disney resort, period, since he'd never been to Disney) so we weren't sure what to expect.

I was blown away by how great the theming was at even the value resorts! You enter the check-in area on a red carpet, it's all colorful with your favorite (statue) characters all around, and it's just general inviting Disney magic!

Can I also take a minute to say how much I LOVE the new Magic Bands? For the girl who can lose everything, even the glasses off of her face (thank God for Lasik or I'd still be walking around blind) the Magic Bands are a great way to have it all literally attached to you - it's a credit card, a room key (what I loved the most about it), a fast pass, a park ticket - and it's cute and (in my case) pink and Disney! I hope they keep this forever and ever and ever.

Anyway, check in went smoothly...until we got to our room and realized that we got a two queen bed room when we requested a king bed room. We went back to the check in desk immediately, without touching anything in the room (though in retrospect, I'm not sure if they maybe had to reclean it anyway ) and were told that the room you order is just a request and never guaranteed. Who knew? Prince Skeptical was not happy.

But Disney magic never fails, as I assured him while we perused the gift shop to wait for them to see if they could find something. And I was right, GO DISNEY! They found us the room that we wanted in the same general area as the last room (we were Mighty Ducks, Prince Skeptical was pleased) and we settled into our beautiful new room...

...but not for that long, because we were HUNGRY. Off to the food court it was! Disney food courts are the best and definitely a huge plus for resorts - we always could find what we wanted at any time of the day and were both satisfied, even with our different dietary needs.

Anyway, it was a restful evening. We enjoyed the resort, I bought my little sister WAAAAY too many souvenirs and a copy of the Frozen DVD (just released that day or the one before!) but it's okay because I had to make up for it being a belated birthday present. Anyway, she loved them (this is from a few weeks later). How could she not? It's Disney!

Anyway, we got to bed at a pretty decent hour, despite a little argument between Prince Skeptical and I (our first fight, I think. I'm not sure if you can really call it that, given that it was more that one of us accidentally upset the other, than apologized and then we forgave each other, but we were a little sad. But then hugs and made up! )

Though we had a decent number of hours under our belt and didn't even get up quite for park opening, Prince Skeptical was not pleased about waking up before noon on vacation. I had to pretty much drag him out of bed with promises of fun, rides, and breakfast in the food court. It worked!

We caught the bus to Magic Kingdom and we delighted to find that the lines to get into the park were really short and quick, even though it was spring break. YAY! That's what I call Disney magic

We took some photos as we walked up Main Street, USA. Prince Skeptical had to admit that it was pretty cool and the theming is amazing. Disney World really is a little world of happiness and magic!

And a random funny creeper!

We have no idea who that guy is, but he was a delightfully peppy cast member and we loved him! Prince Skeptical thought it was the funniest thing ever and we let him take a picture with us, since he was clearly and uber eager photobomber!

He just looks so Disney with that warm smile, too, so we were thrilled to be so warmly welcomed to the most benevolent kingdom in all of history!

Anyway, we took a few more snaps/Prince Skeptical photographed me in my (Disney) element.

It was still a little cool (which was nice, since it got way hot later) so Prince Skeptical lent me his warm sweater. He's such a sweet boyfriend and I'm constantly borrowing his clothes.

Anyway, Prince Skeptical is hugely into sci-fi, as I mentioned in the intro, so I took him to Futureland first!

TLDR: He loved it.

I'm not sure about the order of these any more, but we had a fun time on Test Track.

It wasn't as fun as when I was a kid without a driver's license but still not bad - and the fast pass let us almost walk on!

We also did the Buzz Lightyear ride, which Prince Skeptical totally creamed me on (he's a video game guy and I have barely ever played in my life).

Yeah...it's a little embarrassing. But I gave it my best go!

We explored the rest of the park for a while, grabbing lunch at the Columbia Harbor House. I love that place, but it was was seriously packed!

I got a really nice salad without the chicken and Prince Skeptical got a Lighthouse Tuna Sandwich. It got his approval! He wasn't able to finish his fries, but that's more because he doesn't have a huge appetite than because they weren't good. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed them.

There was also a funny moment when I was waiting for him by the bathrooms after lunch and an exhausted dad came out half-dragging his young son (3 or so) behind him. The poor dad was so tired he didn't even notice that the son's pants were around his ankles with his pull-ups exposed for the world to see. At least he was trying, though that might not be dad of the year material.

We hit Adventureland just as the sun was getting really strong and the day really hot. A nice couple with a baby took photos of us in exchange for us (aka Prince Skeptical) taking photos of them.

Not my favorite photo, but still an awesome day. ANd what can you do with the heat? Prince Skeptical was starting to get a headache, too.

We decided to check out a few more rides, finish our walk-through of the park, and then take the bus back to our resort for a break to cool off. LOVE that.

Prince Skeptical wanted to try Splash Mountain, but it was out of order again.

We did the Pirates ride (I kept expecting a crazy dip or something, but it was great) and Prince Skeptical loved nerding out over the history of the ride. Who knew that he was a secret Disney buff?

Anyway, by the time we got out of the ride, he was feeling really a bit off. We decided a wide-brimmed hat was just what he needed to keep the sun off his head and luckily were in Adventureland. By the third store we went to (counting one truck) we found a great Safari-style hat!

He's so stylish. Don't tell him that I laughed, I promised he looked fine. And he does! But a little funny. Anyway, it helped and was of great use through the rest of the trip!

Hat aside, we were both pretty hot and ready to get out of there for a while, so we headed back towards the park exit. Why was it so hard??

We were trying to leave in the middle of the 3pm parade! Prince Skeptical's friend was doing a Disney Professional Internship and helped with the marketing for the parade so we stopped and watched.

The big purple dragon was super cool! Sorry that I couldn't get a good photo.

Anyway, it wasn't difficult to get back to the resort with the bus system (yay!) and we were happy to get to cool off in the air conditioning of our room and relax for a bit. We ended up getting some dinner back in the food court before returning in the evening for a Space Mountain fast pass (for Prince Skeptical only, I'm a total wuss about rides), fireworks, and general extra park exploration.

Anyway, part 1 of the day was awesome! YAY DISNEY!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

We were super comfy and happy back at All Star Movies, but we eventually have to pry ourselves out of our wonderful air conditioned resort to head back to the park.

Magic Kingdom was open until midnight that day, so even though we only went back around 7 or 8 (I think 8, but the sun stays up so long in Florida - we were totally confused) it was worth going back. The bus came really quickly this time! Overall, our bus waits were generally around 5-20 minutes, but that night was definitely on the 5 minute side. Yay!

Getting back into the park was also a breeze, though the park didn't seem any emptier than early in the day. We walked around a bit, then back to Futureland. Prince Skeptical wanted to do Space Mountain.

He loved it. I didn't go, because I'm a wuss about rides, but I walked around the pavilion while he rode. It didn't take very long, since he had a fast pass, and it was a lovely evening. But don't you wish you could see his face in that? Haha, he made the most hilarious ride face ever!

We walked around a bit more, got some yummy (and huge! Two enormous scoops for each of us!) ice cream from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. I got one scoop of an amazing sorbet, since my stomach doesn't love too much dairy, and one scoop of butter pecan, because my taste buds do. I can't remember what Prince Skeptical got. But my ice dream dripped all over the place!

We finished up our ice cream outside by the bridge, where we watched the last parade and fireworks. The fireworks were AMAZING and Prince Skeptical was blown away, too.

YAY! Perfect end to a perfect day! Getting home was pretty easy, too, and we collapsed into bed - asleep in minutes. Disney Magic!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

For reference, this was Thursday, March 20, 2014.

Better known as EPCOT DAY! I probably love Epcot just as much as Magic Kingdom, even though Magic Kingdom is a must-do for any WDW trip.

Since Prince Skeptical had to wake up early the day before, we slept in this day. We decided to only get to the park around 11 or noon and then just stay all the way through until the end (doable, since the park closed at 9pm that day).

We had a nice casual late breakfast in the All Star Movies food court, then took the bus over to Epcot.

EPCOT! Getting into the park was no trouble and we were well prepared with sunscreen and Prince Skeptical's wide brim hat. We had lots of fun all day, but I didn't take very many pictures. Sorry!

I know that we went to see Spaceship Earth pretty early on in the day.

A cute little family took photos of us and we took photos of them - everyone is so nice at Disney World!

We walked around a bit more, did some rides, and had lunch at Teppan Edo some point (though we both like sushi, neither of us was crazy about Teppan Edo), but it was HOT.

I think around 5 or 6 I was really overheating. We were back at the Land of the Seas when grouch mode took over, but Prince Skeptical was a total sweetheart, gave me his hat, and walked over to Sunshine Seasons with me to cool off with some dinner.

Prince Skeptical's friend who was doing a Disney Professional Internship at the time met up with us for dinner at 6 or 7 and they both had sesame noodles (Prince Skeptical loves Asian food) and I had a salad. It was exactly what I needed in that heat.

We hung out, chatted for a bit, and then headed out when the sun was lower in the sky. We walked around a bit again and took some pictures in China.

I really like this one! My good Disney mood was back in full-force

Prince Skeptical and his friend got drinks in Mexico and I got a green tea in Japan (I was 20) - yum!

We strolled around some more, chatted a lot, watched some performers (the belly dancers in Morocco are amazing!) and then scouted out a spot for the fireworks.

The fireworks were AMAZING, probably the best fireworks show in the world. We kept thinking it was over and then something even more amazing would happen! And the music is just my absolute favorite.

There was this teenage boy (or young adult) behind us, though, who was really into it. He kept exclaiming in wonder and then, after a particular dazzling display, yelled out "MY LIFE IS COMPLETE!!" at the top of his lungs. Everyone laughed...

...especially because it was the penultimate display and there was one more for the conclusion! He amended his statement with "my life is not yet complete"

But it was amazing! We rode back to the hotel with Prince Skeptical's friend (she had a car, because she was living in Florida) and then said goodbye. We stayed up for a little bit, but went to bed at a reasonable hour.

It was a wonderful day!

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

I'm taking a quick trip report break to do a real life update - I just graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. Degree in Human Evolutionary Biology!

President Faust was super cool when she conferred us our diplomas, as usual.

While Sheryl Sandberg and Michael Bloomberg were our official speakers, our honorary degree recipients were even cooler.

President George H W Bush got an honorary doctorate of law!

Queen of Soul and 18-time Grammy Award winner (including 8 years in a row for best female vocalist) Aretha Franklin received an honorary doctorate of arts!

It was still my first degree...

But I'm so proud and can't believe I'm done already - and I'm beyond excited to work at a tech start up in SoHo next!

My ultimate goal is to get a MBA (probably starting that program in a few years, if I can) and maybe work for Disney as the boss of things.

Under Mickey, of course.

DREAM BIG.

 

[DVC'96]

Congratulations on your graduation!
I'm enjoying hearing about your trip. Looking forward to the rest!

 

[Soben]

Congrats on your graduation!

Loving your report. My favorite is the hat! I totally know the feeling of needing that hat and giving in to the look.

Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[LifeTheDisneyWay14]

Thanks, Diane and Soben!

I'm doing the whole move-in thing in NYC today (my real job starts tomorrow!) but I'll try to update soon.

It's exciting that someone is actually reading this! I was half writing it just for the fun of re-living an awesome week