World's Shortest TR: *One MAGICAL-Soul Cleansing-Spirit Raising Girls Day @ Disney*

[DramaQueen]

Hello All!

I've been on the DIS for AGES but haven't posted in a year or so. The thought of no prospective Disney trips depressed me and I would get too jealous of all you amazing people planning YOUR magical trips that I just couldn't handle it!

But I'm back......and happen to be FINALLY planning a trip! After 3 Disney-less years (and 5 Disney-less years for the rest of my family!) we are finally planning what we assume will be our last family trip - THIS SEPT for free dining (until grandkids start arriving)

ANYWAYS, I recently got back from a quick trip to Florida with my two best friends, I wasn't expecting to go to Disney but a MIRACLE happened so I wanted to share it with you all.

Without further ado I present:
3 "Grown Up" Princesses have an amazing princessy-magical-sould cleansing-spirit raising-inner child awakening- ONE DAY DISNEY EXTRAVAGANZA
I'm going to do this in one fell swoop. So I hope you all ENJOY! Lots of pics!

I travel with two of my best friends often:

Myself (Caitlin), Tia & Whitney

We usually go to NYC but wanted to opt for somewhere HOT this time. Orlando had the cheapest flight so off we went! We are VERY frugal, as we are in our early 20's and don't have TOO much money to spare on travel, so we booked a flight out of Buffalo (we are from Toronto by the way) and decided to try out luck with an "express deal" on Priceline for a hotel.

We ended up with a GREAT hotel, the Best Western Gateway Plus - a $7 cab ride from Universal! EXCELLENT!

We also used priceline for a rental car, got a GREAT price and the BEST rental car ever:

We nicknamed it "Mike Wasowski"

So we were amazingly on budget! I've learned all the tricks of the trade from my Disney Trip Planning Mama! (and I've been able to surpass her expertise when it comes to budgeting let me tell you! Priceline is the BEST!)

OK So back to the trip! We were there for 5 days (but really 4 because our flight landed at 8pm on Wednesday May 1 and departed at 1:30pm on Sunday May 5) So a short & sweet trip for us!
We all decided that we would bear the expense and spend ONE day at IOA so that we could experience the Wizarding World of Harry Potter....as we all grew up with HP and are big huge nerds about it. Since it was about $100 for one day we though that would be our one BIG expense and that for the other days we would go shopping, go the Cocoa beach, explore Intl Drive and hang by the pool.

Here we are enjoying IOA:

(I am terrified of Dinosaurs, hence THE FACE)

very dark pic inside HOGWARTS

AMAZING!!

As you can see it was very rainy! The whole trip the weather was NOT amazing so the Cocoa beach day did NOT happen.
What DID happen instead is that Whitney talked to our hotel concierge on Thursday morning before we went to IOA and committed us to going to.......a TIMESHARE PRESENTATION! LOL!! With the promise of $100, and a free breakfast, how could 3 budget-conscious chicks say "NO!"

Friday rolls around, we are to be at the Bonnet Creek resort at 10:30am. Off we go. I was actually THRILLED to be going because the resort is on Disney Property and I figured I could convince the girls to hit up Downtown Disney after the presentation so that I could get a little taste of Disney Spirit!!!

So we sat through the presentation, knowing full-well that none of us could ever dream of affording a timeshare at our age and current financial situation. I was the designated "talker" and also "no-sayer" so after 3 hours and LOTS and LOTS of high pressure sales I finally gave our final "NO THANK YOU" and we were sent off to claim our BIG PRIZE of $100 CASH!!

Next stop: DOWNTOWN DISNEY!

Now...I am a Disney Girl. I have been since BIRTH. My friends like Disney, but not on my level; silently tearing up in the back seat of Mike Wasowski as we pass by a Disney Transportation bus. Knowing that I wasn't able to go into the parks was killing my heart. Downtown Disney had to be enough for me this trip. :'(

(you know you're a Disney FREAK when the sight of A BUS makes you cry)

We arrive at DTD. All of us VERY hungry after a disappointing "free breakfast"....donuts wrapped in plastic YUM!
They let me take the lead because they know how I feel about Disney World and they know I'm a veteran.

So I thought it would be cool to check our Splitsville, since it was new!
We grabbed a seat on the patio and had a drink and shared some nachos:

We strolled through all the shops in DTD for the better part of the day, the weather was finally cooperating and it was a gorgeous day to explore:

As you guys know Disney has WIFI now! And this is when a spectacular turn of events occured!!!!!
I had posted a pic on facebook of us enjoying our lunch at splitsville when a friend of mine (who I met on the DIS!! ) messaged me to ask if I was going to the parks as she was going to be around tomorrow. I told her no, we couldn't afford it so DTD was our Disney World for this trip.
She messaged back to tell me that she was a CM and might be able to hook us up.
And at that moment...........I mean can you guys even IMAGINE how I felt (I'm sure you all CAN!) I was doing a happy dance times a million
I told the girls and they were all SO excited. So my CM friend and I exchanged texts throughout the day and she gave me all the details.
We could meet her at DHS tomorrow around 1:00 ish!

Here are a few more DTD pics:

We then celebrated that night at Citywalk:

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY TOMORROW!!!! (ok actually....in a few hours...YIKES!)

THE NEXT DAY

SO......I will spare you all the details but as we are young, twenty-somethings we went to Citywalk that night to celebrate and getting up the next morning was anything but a pleasure!!

I got up around 10:00am to shower and get ready, I had to DRAG the girls out of bed with constant reminders that we were GOING TO DISNEY!!!!!!
I was scared that we may have made a mistake by going out last night and getting next to NO sleep but once we were all up and finally showered and ready to go we forgot about any headaches or queasy stomachs that we might have had.

We were finally on our way!

I was texting my CM friend and she met us right outside the turnstiles! I was SOOOOO excited to meet her in person!!!
She was so pretty and sweet and just the nicest person ever! (If you're reading this you know who you are.....I'm sparing your identity JUST IN CASE....and I LOVE YOU!)

We chatted and took a couple pics and then she went to meet back up with her family, who she was spending the day with

Whitney, Tia and I had decided mutually that we would spend our ONE DAY at the MAGIC KINGDOM, of course. But since we were at DHS Tia suggested we go on TOT....everyone's favourite ride from childhood!

A random kid popped over and asked if he could be in our picture......WHY NOT?! We're in DISNEY WORLD! haha

We were also all STARVING so got a quick bite to eat and then headed to the (very long) line up for TOT. It was "May the 4th be with you" day, so DHS was packed. We waited for close to an hour but we didn't mind. WE WERE IN DISNEY WORLD, and we could entertain ourselves.
Tia braided my hair

We took pics

We chatted. All was good .
We got on the ride and it was HILARIOUS Whitney screamed and grabbed onto my so hard I thought my arm would fall off!

We all walked off the ride giggling. It's good to be HOME!
A few more pics and we were on our way to MK
(CONT. NEXT POST!)

 

[DramaQueen]

PART 2

We arrived at MK probably around 2:30 ish? Parked Mike Wasowski, and took the Monorail over.

SIDENOTE; now I know you ALL are big Disney LOVERS (otherwise....why are you reading this??...) and the fact that I am already incredibly emotional did NOT help the situation but I pretty much cried tears of joy from the moment we walked up to the monorail until the moment we got our pics taken in front of the castle.
I had not been to Disney in 3 years, and had no plans on going anytime soon....so to be standing on Main St. was almost overwhelming to my tear ducts. The girls gave me a hug and laughed a bit, but I was so happy I thought I might EXPLODE! Even thinking about how I felt now make me warm and fuzzy inside. I hope you can all appreciate what it was like (and I'm sure you certainly CAN!)

We got our bags checked and off we went. Took a few pics on our way in:

Tia & I held hands and skipped into the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH!
Our inner Disney Princesses were all coming out to play for the day.

Whitney headed right to the bathroom when we got in and Tia went to go take some pics, I snuck off the guest relations and picked us up some buttons

My 24th birthday was TWO DAYS AWAY so I obviously HAD to get myself a birthday pin. Hearing "Happy Birthday Princess" is still the same when you're turning 24 as it is when you're turning 4.....I giggled every time a CM or anyone else wished me a happy birthday!

We slowly made our way down Main St. My senses were working overtime making sure to take in every littler detail (my sense of smell especially, gotta love the Main St. scent!)

We took a RIGHT into Tomorrowland first:

So first we headed over to Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. Adorable as always, my cheeks hurt from laughing.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day out and pretty busy so lots of long lines, but we didn't care!

Next we wanted to try SM, 60 min wait, whatever. As I walked through the "Star Tunnel" and heard THAT SONG I told the girls about how walking through there was my favourite part. haha.
Then in classic SM fashion, it promptly broke down.
With no time to waste we high tailed it over to my personal favourite ride, Tomorrowland Transit Authority.
Now you know if there is a LINE for TTA it is a busy day at the MK! We only waited about 5-10 mins and totally enjoyed our trip around tomorrowland

Next up was checking out the Fantasyland expansion! I hadn't seen it yet either so it was really cool to check it out!! We walked around for a while and took everything in. We waited to ride the new Little Mermaid Ride. THe wait was about an hour but we were all extremely entertained by watching all the adorable children and babies around us that we didn't really care! Haha

The new ride is ADORABLE and we sang along with all the songs

It was around 6:00pm by this time and our tummies were getting grumbly. So we decided to check out Pinocchio's Village Haus for dinner.
Tia has a gluten allergy and it's sometimes hard for us to find a spot where she can eat but at Pinocchio's she asked a CM if there were gluten free options and they immediately got a manager to bring over a special menu and helped her order! They even brought her food over to her and assured her it was all cooked separately from any other food. She was thrilled! Nice little touch of Disney Magic.

We grabbed a table looking out into IASM, and had fun waving at the boats going by while we enjoyed our supper

Next we went on Haunted Mansion, we went through the new line up to check it out and had fun playing with all the stuff.

(we were given a VERY IMPORTANT task!)

It wasn't too busy, only about a 10 minute wait! Awesome. I also thought it was hilarious how all 3 of us were able to fit in one doom buggy (also one clam in the Little Mermaid ride....and one row on Splash!! haha)

We went into the Christmas store next because I had to buy an ornament for my tree.
This ornament makes me laugh so hard, so of course I had to buy it

We took our time walking through frontierland and then got in line for SPLASH:

Tia and I brought our ponchos that we got at IOA the other day and we all hilariously managed to fit in one row so we shared with Whitney.
Splash was a BLAST! We laughed the whole way through and had a great time!

Then walked through Adventureland, it was dark out by the time we were done in Splash. It was getting close to 9:00pm at this point and we decided that our final ride would be POTC (funny enough that was the last ride on my last trip too!)

NO LINE!! haha

I also had to get a Dole Whip to share with the girls, they loved it! YUM

Spectro was about the get started, we didn't really care to watch the parade so we walked through the stores.
We bought matching Mickey Mouse bracelets to remember our MAGICAL day!

By the time we were done in the store the parade was JUST ending, then the Disney Vet in my took over. We all grabbed hands and sped over to the Monorail! Of course, the express line was SO long already so I whispered "THIS WAY" and led us to the Hotel Monorail....got right on with no line.

The girls were impressed haha....I'll have to thank my mom for training me so well.

As we took our last look at the Castle, I of course started to tear up again...
I looked down at the bus stops and couldn't help but feel a little pang in my heart, wishing that I was getting on one of those buses with my family to head back to Pop Century to relax. But as I sat on the monorail with my two best friends I thanked the universe for giving me such an AMAZING, MAGICAL, BEAUTIFUL day with two people that I truly adore

We managed to hit the outlet mall JUST before it closed, then we went back to our hotel room for a REALLY QUICK nap and to get ready for our last night out at Citywalk.
Had a BLAST!

late night snack @ Bubba Gumps


We to Ponderosa the next day for breakfast, packed up Mike Wasowski, and headed home with hearts full of Disney Spirit.


THE END


I really hope you guys enjoyed my VERY short & sweet TR!!! I've meant to do TR's for my past 3 trips but just never got around to it...and I figured since this wouldn't take too long to write I might as well just go for it!

Once I got home from this trip my Disney-obsessed Momma was SO EXCITED (and JEALOUS) that she decided to start planning a FAMILY trip to Disney! The next day we got an email that it was FREE DINING in September so we were SOLD! (Even my Dad couldn't resist the deal)
So we're going Sept 6-15, staying at POFQ, free dining! I'm so excited!
My dad, my mom, my sister (22) and I (24) are going on one LAST family trip (until grandbabies arrive, I'm sure)

So stay tuned in September I may have a new installment for you all!

 

[tinkgurl]

I'm so glad you came back! This was a short, but sweet TR. Thanks for sharing!