Dancing through Disney!! UPDATE:9/9 COMPLETE!

[Princess Olivia]

To all that come to this happy trip report, welcome!!​

Hello0o Disboards and welcome to my first ever trip report, Dancing through Disney!! This trip was special in itself because I got the extraordinary opportunity to dance IN Disney!! I'm very excited to get to relive everything that happened and share it all with you. Before I begin I should probably introduce you to everyone, so here we go!

Olivia

Hi! I'm Olivia. I love any and all things Disney. I definitely would consider myself Disney obsessed! My parents have been bringing our family since 2003 and (luckily) everyone loves it. We recently just became DVC members and I could not have been happier with the news. It has already benefited us in so many ways. If I'm not planning an upcoming Disney trip or Disney cruise (we loveloveloveee Disney cruises!!) with my mom, I'm dancing. I have been dancing since I was two and it is my absolute favorite thing. One of my dream jobs is to be a dancer in one of the parades in Disney. I think that would be so much fun!! This trip was special right away because I was getting to do my favorite thing in my favorite place with some of my best friends.

Madi

Next up is my very best friend, Madison. Our moms are best friends so we have always been together and now we are practically inseparable! Madi is very outgoing and energetic. Sadly Madi does not share my level of enthusiasm when it comes to Disney. She enjoys it and loves all the rides, but just does not understand why I am so obsessed. That's alright though because by the end of the trip she had definitely come to respect Disney more then she had when she left home. Mission accomplished!

Mom and Colleen

Next are our wonderful mothers!! My mom's name is Jen (this is actually her account) and she is on the left. My mom is the only other person I know that is as obsessed with Disney as I am. My mom and dad are also very supportive when it comes to dance. My mom travels with me to all my competitions, but if one is close to home my dad is always there! My dad did not accompany us on this trip, (girls only) he stayed home with my three younger brothers. Next is Madi's mom/my second mother/ my mom's best friend, Colleen! Colleen is awesome and was so fun! Like Madi, she loves all the rides. Colleen makes everyone laugh and got us very silly at times!


And special appearances by Chris (Christine) and her daughter Caseley!

Chris is also another one of my mom's best friends. Chris is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She does so much for our dance studio and everyone loves her! Caseley is seven and was completely overjoyed (as were the rest of us, but as her only being seven it was heightened) and was practically busting at the seams with excitement at the thought of getting to dance in Disney. She loved to be around us and we loved having her!


Bri and Kathy

Where do I begin with Bri? Bri is the crazy, funny girl that makes the dumbest things seem funny. I consider Madi, Bri and our friend Jenna (who I will get to a little later) my best friends. Bri had not been to Disney since she was a kid so I was really excited for her to see all the added pixie dust since the last time she had visited. She LOVED it!! Kathy is Bri's mom. Kathy was our favorite person to go on rides with because she had the most classic faces in the photos. They were priceless!! Since they had not been for a while, Bri and Kathy joined us because they like how we plan our days.They say "we really know what we are doing." Thanks guys!


Then there are the girls we dance with, but we did not see much of them so they will be introduced as they come along.


Performing in Disney was a celebration for our studio being open for ten years. In all, there were 46 performers that went! The package that was included was a 4-night stay at Port Orleans Riverside, along with 4-day park hopper plus passes.

We decided to use some of our DVC points and stay a few days before and after the originally scheduled dates. We left Sunday, June 24th and came home Sunday, July 1st. We started off our stay at the Boardwalk Villas. After two nights, we switched over to POR to be with the rest of the studio. We finished our stay at Old Key West.

We also left Disney a few times to travel elsewhere.....One of the stops was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure in Universal. Me and my mom are HUGE Harry Potter geeks. I have been begging to go since it first opened and this was the time we could fit it in! We also made a visit to the Amway Center to see a certain concert...
*Side Story* Okay so I kind of happen to love the British boy band sensation that is One Direction. You can't help but like them and their boyish charm. So my best friend Jenna (I mentioned her very briefly earlier) entered the Ryan Seacrest national contest to go to ANY One Direction contest in the U.S. and meet the boys and..............SHE WON!!!!! We seriously could not believe she won!! I was ecstatic for her!! Jenna at first wanted to go to a concert in CA, but after she thought about it she realized that all her friends were going to be in Florida at the time of the concert. At that time it was practically a no-brainer. Jenna was coming to Disney!!!!! I forgot to mention that Jenna dances with us too but her family was already going on a vacation this summer and could not do both. The trip was for two people and it included a 2-night stay at the closest hotel and round trip air fare. Since Jenna is not 18 her second ticket had to go to her mom. This next part is pretty crazy too...my parents surprised me and got me second row seats to the concert as an early birthday present. WHAT?!?! I was shocked and obviously so happy!! We were going to see One Direction!!


Okay sorry I'm getting a bit off topic. Alright well I think I covered most everything I was supposed to cover. Thanks again for reading along!!

We invite you if you dare to step aboard because in tonight's episode you are the star and this trip report travels directly to....Dancing through Disney!! ​

 

[Princess Olivia]

Chapter Links

Intro​

Disney Bound​

We're Here!!​

Snacking through Epcot​

Guido​

Debbie's following me!​

Short but sweet trek through IOA​

Kona​

Goodnight Boardwalk​

Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare!​

Magic Kingdom!​

What a way to end the night!​

We're dancing IN Disney!!​

We're dancing IN Disney!! (Part 2)​

What do you get when you put a bunch of dancers in Disney?​

Get ready Animal Kingdom...We're coming for ya!​

Hollywood is calling our names!​

Good Morning Hollywood! Did you miss us?​

This...Is American Idol!​

Everything is better at night!​

Hang Loose Dude!​

"I Wanna Stay Up All Night And Jump Around Until We See The Sun..."​

Our last day...​

Shop till we drop!​

 

[1Grumpy9]

I'm In...Can't wait to read your report...I danced as a child and teen (even into college), so I know what it is like to get to do something special. My high school marching band got to go to WDW and march in the Spectromagic Parade.

 

[RachelNinja]

I'm in! Sounds like a ton of fun to have an only girls trip where you got to combine your love of dancing with your favorite vacation spot!

 

[Bell<3Disney]

Im subbing in, sounds like a fun girls trip!

 

[Princess Olivia]

Disney Bound​

"Celebrate A Dream Come True, and you might just find a wish for you. When you close your eyes, then you realize, any dream is possible!"

That is the song my alarm woke me up to at 5:00 am. I was quickly up and getting myself ready for the exciting day ahead!! I’m kind of a pro at waking up at 5 since I do it everyday day for school, plus who doesn’t jump right out of bed if they have somewhere exciting to be?!

We were ready and out of the house by 6:30! We said goodbye to my brother Cameron who was watching my two little brothers while my dad drove us to Colleen and Madi’s house.

Madi who never gets sick ended up getting really sick a few days before we left. She had a terrible sore throat, was super weak (to the point where she could barely stand) and was really congested. Two doctor visits later she was still not her fun-self. Not sure how she was going to be feeling while away, her doctor went and prescribed her a Z-pack.

When we got there Madi was definitely still not herself but she was better than the last time I had talked to her. We loaded the car and said goodbye to my dad. Before we knew it, we were on our way to the airport!!

We got to the airport earlier then we had anticipated. We arrived around 8:45 and flew right through security. I think it took a total of 5 minutes. Seriously. The airport was empty!

We went to our terminal, got settled and got a quick breakfast. Nothing fancy, just Dunkin Donuts. Nothing compared to the deliciousness that we were soon going to be exposed to!

Madi got a vanilla chai to see if it would help her throat. We are obsessed with vanilla chai’s. YUM!

We were so excited!!

My favorite princess is Rapunzel. I LOVE her!! My brother Carson watches Tangled over and over, to the point where I can recite the whole movie. It really is one of my favorite movies though, it’s so cute!! My mom found Rapunzel and Belle PEZ dispensers, so she got them and gave them to us before we left.

We were a little apprehensive when we heard the weather forecast while waiting for our flight. That's right....Debbie was taking over. Debbie scared us for a number of reasons. Obviously no one wants rain everday all day while they are at Disney! It was Sunday and our performance was Wednesday. If it rains to a point where it is dangerous for dancers to dance then the event gets canceld and unfortunately, from what we were told, it does not get rescheduled. We however were trying to be positive and not worry about it until we got there.

Finally we were were able to board! I sat next to Madi and our moms sat behind us.

With my little brothers we usually fly JetBlue, but since there were no younger children we flew SouthWest. Since there were no TV's to occupy us we got the next best thing possible. DISNEY COLORING BOOKS!! We were all set!

The pilot came on not to long after we took off and advised us that there would be some turbulance, espcially during our descent. We did not really feel it until we started to land. But I didn't care, I was finally in Disney World!!​

 

[Windsor Princesses]

Joining in! Oh no, I hope it didn't rain and ruin your chance to dance in Disney. I got to perform there a few years ago and attend a workshop and let me tell you - it was one of the most amazing experiences of my whole life! I can only imagine what they have added now and you got the chance to do (Hopefully!)​

 

[Princess Olivia]

I'm In...Can't wait to read your report...I danced as a child and teen (even into college), so I know what it is like to get to do something special. My high school marching band got to go to WDW and march in the Spectromagic Parade.

Thank you so much for reading!! Dancing is so great! I would love to continue to dance in college as well. I'm even considering going to a performing arts college. Along with dance I act and take private voice lessons, but I've been dancing for the longest and out of the three, it's what I excel at and love the most. That is so cool that your high school got to do that!! What an awesome experience that must have been!! It is so different going to Disney with a bunch of friends!!

 

[Princess Olivia]

I'm in! Sounds like a ton of fun to have an only girls trip where you got to combine your love of dancing with your favorite vacation spot!

Thank you so much for reading along!! It was one of the best experiences to be able to dance in Disney! I could not have been more excited when I first heard the news! An all girls trip was pretty great too! I only have brothers so to get some time away from boys and be with my mom and best friend was awesome!!

 

[Princess Olivia]

Im subbing in, sounds like a fun girls trip!

Thank you so much for reading! I promise it is a very entertaining trip! A girls only trip left us with a lot of laughs!

 

[Princess Olivia]

Joining in! Oh no, I hope it didn't rain and ruin your chance to dance in Disney. I got to perform there a few years ago and attend a workshop and let me tell you - it was one of the most amazing experiences of my whole life! I can only imagine what they have added now and you got the chance to do (Hopefully!)​

Thank you so much for joining!! We were not sure if Debbie was going to be a problem but it ended up working out. We weren't going to let a little rain stop us from what we had been preparing for and looking forward to the whole year. I heard about the workshop! I would have loved to do it but I don't think my dance teacher really looked into it. It really was an incredible experience!! We are already talking about how we can top it for fifteen years! Maybe a Disney cruise? I love your avatar by the way! One of the dances we brought was our competition dance and it was Alice in Wonderland. I got to be Alice and she was such a fun character to be!!

 

[Alyssa88]

Count me in for the fun!! I typically lurk on trip reports but I have to join in on one about dancing in Disney.

I performed at Epcot and Universal Studios with my dance company when I was nine and LOVED it. It was my family's first trip and that got them hooked. I don't dance anymore so this has me feeling a little nostalgic.

I can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[Princess Olivia]

Count me in for the fun!! I typically lurk on trip reports but I have to join in on one about dancing in Disney.

I performed at Epcot and Universal Studios with my dance company when I was nine and LOVED it. It was my family's first trip and that got them hooked. I don't dance anymore so this has me feeling a little nostalgic.

I can't wait to read more about your trip!

I'm so excited that you're coming along! I'm really excited to write this trip report! The trip itself was so fun and I would do anything to be able to do it all over! That is so cool that you got to perform in Epcot AND Universal!! How fun!!! I was really hoping that we were going to be able to perform in a park, but the only stage that we could use was the one in DTD. The way that everything was set up was really cool though! They had a neat backdrop and a sign before the seating area telling about the studios that were performing. I'm so excited that I have people joining along that have danced before! That makes it more fun for me, knowing that people want to hear about the dancing experience! Thanks again for reading along!! I'm really excited to get this trip report going!!!

 

[Princess Olivia]

​

We're Here!!​

My favorite parts of a flight are take-off, the landing, and most importantly when the flight attendants say “Let us be the first to welcome you to Orlando.” I love that!

I could not have gotten off that plane faster. I was so excited to be in Disney!! Next came the trickiest part of our day…finding our way around MCO. No matter how many times I go to that airport, I don’t think I will ever know my way around.

We had to try to find our way to Magical Express. This was our first time taking DME so it was a bit confusing trying to find our way, but we managed.

Sadly, our Magical Express experience wasn’t so magical…..
We got in the line for Boardwalk and soon enough our bus had arrived.
Unfortunately the bus was full and we were the cut-off. We got stuck waiting for another bus and it took for what seemed to be forever. I guess I was just impatient and wanted to get to Disney already! We waited for about 30 minutes only to be presented with a yellow Mears bus. The yellow Mears busses are wannabe Magical Express busses. Anyway, we got on the ugly bus and Debbie was not letting the Florida sun shine.

We were still smiling though!

I was really excited to see the movie that they showed on DME but since we were not on a real DME bus we got stuck with Finding Nemo. Don’t get me wrong, Finding Nemo is a great movie but I was hoping for the other movie.
We were off to the Boardwalk Villas!! Yay!! By this time it had started pouring and we could barely see in front of us.

I have to apologize for the lack of photos the first day and the beginning of the second day. We were in rain up to our ankles and did not want to chance ruining the cameras by taking them out. I promise there are TONS of photos!!

Anyway we got to the Boardwalk and were amazed by the details. I love how different all the hotels are and the amount of detail that go into every one of them. It’s incredible!

Our room was ready so that’s where we headed!! We were home!!

Our plan was to go to Epcot because we had 7:00 dinner reservations at Via Napoli, and Debbie was not going to ruin our plans! Before we headed anywhere we needed a few essentials….ponchos. Now getting ponchos does not seem like a hard task, but for some reason it seemed impossible. We went down to the Boardwalk’s general store inside the hotel and of course they had sold out. We were now on a hunt for heavy-duty ponchos and were told we may have better luck at the general store that is ON the boardwalk. We had only been in the hotel for thirty minutes so we did not know where we were going at all. After giving in and asking someone we found an easier way to get to the boardwalk. Obviously the boardwalk is outside…in the torrential rain…There is a walkway from the hotel that is kind of covered so we tried to stay on that as long as we could. I felt like a secret agaent in a movie sliding against a wall! If it wasn’t raining so hard it would have been a different story but we were not ready to get drenched just yet. Once our cover above our heads was gone, we did a full sprint to the store and I’m proud to say we made it and did not look like we had just gotten out of the pool. We got our heavy-duty ponchos and were all set.

Finally we were ready to go!! Off to Epcot!!​

 

[Princess Olivia]

Snacking through Epcot​

We had our ponchos and were all set for Epcot! We started to make our way from the Boardwalk to Epcot which is a super easy, nice little walk.

We were about half way there when we realized we had forgotten our tickets to get into the park. At this rate we thought we would never be getting to Epcot.

Madi and I ran back to our room where we were surprised with a gift!

My aunt had ordered it and had it sent to our room! It was really adorable! It came with a Minnie Mouse cheerleader, a picture frame, chocolate-covered pretzels, lollipops, crackers and chocolate covered popcorn.

We ran back outside and by this time it had started torrential down-pouring. It was insane!! At this point we had taken off our shoes and walked barefoot to Epcot. It was so wet!

We got to Epcot and it was basically empty. Rain may not keep guest away but monsoon-like weather will!

The first thing on our agenda was to go to guest services and pick up a Tables in Wonderland card. After we had gotten that all set we needed to think of something to do that would get us out of the rain. Spaceship Earth was right there so we went on that.

After Spaceship Earth we were all starving so we wanted to get something quick before dinner. We went to my favorite place… The Land!!
It was a perfect break from the rain and we wanted to check out the wait time for Soarin’. Since we were eating dinner shortly we just grabbed a quick snack. Thanks to the Disboards, I knew exactly what I was getting!

It was sinfully delicious! It was so good!!
Madi and my mom got a red-velvet whoppie pie and Colleen got an M&M cookie. Sorry that I don’t have any pictures, they had already ate most of it before the camera was even out. BTW...who says you can't rock a poncho?

We were full and happy and ready to keep trekking through the torrential rain, but not without a stop at Living with the Land! After Living with the Land we went to check on Soarin’. We knew that the wait was probably going to be long and we were right. It was a 100 minute wait and with dinner in an hour and no fastpasses left, we were not going to be able to ride it.
Before we headed to Italy for our dinner reservations, we had some must-make stops. First was Germany for…Karamell Kuche!! We love it here! We got our delicious caramel treats and headed back into the rain.

At this time the rain had started to let up…finally! We were getting closer to our reservation time but there was one place I needed to stop before we turned around and headed back to Italy. Norway! Norway has Maelstrom and one of the most delicious bakeries which happens to carry one of my favorite snacks in all of Disney…school bread!!

We rode Maelstrom which never seems to disappoint…I love that ride. The cute boy that was loading us on, has nothing to do with it ...

Then we went and got my school bread. Ahhh I was so excited! It was getting close to 7:00 so we started to make our way back to Italy.
Our Via Napoli experience certainly kept us laughing for the rest of the night!​

 

[Princess Olivia]

Guido ​

Via Napoli is definitely one of my family’s favorite restaurants! We talk about the pizza all the time. It seriously is the best pizza ever!

Everyone was really excited to eat here!

We were seated right away and of course there were handsome Italian waiters everywhere. I like to think that they thought our drowned rat look was cute….

Then came our water boy….Guido. Madi became a little obsessed with Guido; I don’t think I have ever seen anyone drink more water in one night then she did. It was pretty funny! Nobody was complaining because it kept him coming back to our table!

Our waitress came over and she was very nice! She took our drink orders while we looked at the menus.

Then Guido came back with more water for miss Madison. Madi had thanked Guido but for some reason my mom thought she had said Guiiiido. She made us stand up and take a picture with him!!! Now how thank you and Guido sound similar, I don’t know? I think she just wanted an excuse to have a picture of him.

Our appetizers came out shortly after our photo session. We got Arancini which was so yummy!! It was fried risotto balls that were filled with mozzarella and had a ragu sauce.

Our meals came out really fast! By the time we had finished our appetizer our pizza was done. Again sorry for no picture of the pizza, this time I had forgot. We got a margarita pizza which was so delicious! Like I said before, Via Napoli pizza is the best pizza I have ever had.

Next was dessert!! My personal favorite! Madi got a chocolate sundae which she said was yummy.

We also got the Zeppoles which were SO good!! They are ricotta cheese fritters that are served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Yum!!

We were full from a delicious meal at Via Napoli. Now we had to decide what
we were going to do next since we were not sure what the weather was going to be like(plus, it didn't look like Guido was going to be able to escort us anywhere any time soon ) We walked outside and were very pleasantly surprised to see that the sun was starting to peek through!! YAY!!!

Madi and my mom really wanted to go over to MK for EMH to ride Space Mountain. We were just going to hop on the monorail but I still had my school bread and did not want to bring it on the ride. So I of course sat down and ate it right there. I could never be too full to enjoy school bread!

It was gone in seconds!

We started to make our way over to the monorail but decided to stop in Mexico to ride the 3 Caballeros!

Olay!

Right as we stepped on our boat to begin our ride, Colleen dropped her umbrella!! We tried to grab it but it was no luck. The umbrella was gone. We got off the ride ready to head to the Magic Kingdom only to be presented with what seemed like end of the world weather. Seriously, I'm from the NE and have been through lots of storms but this was INSANE rain and wind!!

We thought it would be okay but this time it was not letting up at all. We decided MK was not an option anymore. We were going to walk back to the Boardwalk, but it was raining so hard that we gave in and got a taxi.

We got back to our room and thankfully our luggage was there.

We turned on the TV and heard a terrible beeping noise. Turned out, there were tornado watches everywhere!! I took a shower and when I got out I heard my mom talking to the front desk. Their conversation went something like this…

My mom-“Hi, I'm just wondering if you could tell me what county we are in?”

Front desk-“We are in Orange County.”

Mom-“We’re watching the news and it says there is a tornado watch for
Orange County"

Front desk-“Right now it's just a watch. It’s not a concern unless it turns into a warning but the hotel was built to sustain an F4 tornado.”

Mom-“Oops! The news just flashed. It's now a warning.”

Front desk-“Umm, just stay in your room.”

Knowing that the hotel could withstand an F4 tornado made us feel much better….NOT!

We were all tired from the long day. Surprisingly the beeping of a tornado warning coming from the TV put me to sleep faster than I thought.
​

 

[Windsor Princesses]

This last post was the funniest thing ever, the convo with the front desk cracked me up. I cannot believe there was a tornado warning, that would have totally creeped me out, not to mention but a small damper on my Disney spirit. Glad you guys made it through.

 

[RachelNinja]

Boo to Madi being sick. That must be the worst, getting sick right before a vacation!

Hope Debby didn't interfere with any of your plans. We had a storm come in at the end of our honeymoon that made it so that we didn't even go to the parks on our last full day because we didn't want to deal with the torrential downpours. It's such a bummer when rain gets in the way!

WHOA, I can't believe taht the rain was so bad that you guys walked barefoot to Epcot!

Haha, what a fun meal you had with Guido! I wonder what all the waiters think at Via Napoli! Too bad Guido wasn't there to keep you guys company during the tornado warning!

 

[mike the canuck]

Following along

 

[Princess Olivia]

Debbie's following me!​

We woke up and discovered that 16 tornados had in fact touched down, but not to worry because Disney was unharmed!

Today was a very exciting day because we were venturing out of our favorite place to visit Universal Studios!

The only person who had been to Universal was my mom, but that was before The Wizarding World was put in, so we were all really excited!! Like I said before, Harry Potter is huge in my house so to be actually going and getting to see the Wizarding World was really exciting.

We had a car coming to pick us up around 7:30 so we quickly got breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery and waited for our car.

By this time it was raining but it was nowhere as bad as last night’s rain. We got to Universal and headed right to Islands of Adventure. We were very (pleasantly) surprised to see the park not crowded at all!

By the time we got to IOA, the sky had once again opened up and was not going to let us have a minute of dry weather. Then came the shoe malfunctions.... We had to stop and get Madi new shoes along the way because hers were breaking while walking through the torrential rain.

We walked as fast as we could to the WWoHP and as soon as we saw that sign my jaw dropped! I was IN Hogsmeade! It felt like I was actually in the book!

Before we could get on Forbidden Journey, we needed to put our things in a locker so that’s where we headed.

We got to FJ and were greeted with only a 10 minute wait!! The 10 minutes were definitely in the walk and not actually waiting. The castle was INCREDIBLE!! They put so much detail into it! THE RIDE. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It was AMAZING!!! I don’t really know how to explain it because it was so different! It was incredible.

We needed to ride again! So I guess there were some pluses to having Debbie visit the park the same time we did...

We got off and went straight to the nonexistent line to ride it for a second time! This was crazy because I have heard so many stories where people wait hours just to ride it once and here we are riding it again in less than 20 minutes! We decided to stop and take a few pictures around the castle!

The Pensieve!

Dumbledore himself!

Two of our dances had to do with Harry Potter and in one we were all from the different houses. I was in Gryffindor and Madi was in Slytherin. The Sorting Hat played a bring part in that dance so we were excited to see it!

We rode it again and could have gone on a third time but there was much more to see! Our next must-do was to get Butterbeer!!! The iconic drink throughout the series that I have been dying to try since I knew it existed!

We got the frozen Butterbeer and it was delicious!!! It tasted like a frozen butterscotch really sweet drink.

After we had our Butterbeer we stopped in Honeydukes. I was determined to get a chocolate frog. Sadly the wizard that came with my chocolate frog was….Helga Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff…..

Anyway, we then decided to go and ride Dragon Challenge! There again was a nonexistent line so we were able to get right on without any wait! Funny story, my mom got stuck on the ride. Her seatbelt would not go up so she sat there screaming “I’m stuck!” She needed one of the people who worked the ride to come and fix it. Madi thought it was hysterical and that’s all she said for the rest of the day.

We got off the ride and were presented with monsoon-like weather…again!! This was INSANE!!! The wind was turning umbrellas inside out and it felt like it took everything we had to walk against it. It was crazy! By now the rain was like the night before. I really wanted to see more of the WWoHP but the shops were getting crowded with everyone fleeing there, so we headed out to see what more we could see of IOA while we could!​