A Magical 9 days in Disney, celebrating birthdays, and so much more!

[DisneyJillian18]

Hello everyone! And welcome to my 1st trip report!
I can't wait to share with you all the Magical 9 days we spent in Disney!!
Where we celebrated to birthdays, an
anniversary, and a huge surprise!

But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's do some introductions!
It will be really easy since there's only two of us



Hi, I'm Jillian. (THE ONE ON THE LEFT)
I am a Disney Addict, much like the rest of you here. I've been going to Disney World since I'm 8 years old, and I've loved it ever since! I'm terrible at picking any kinds of favorites, because I just love everything Disney! But anything "classic" Disney, I pretty much love! I'm also a collector of pressed pennies! I have quite a large collection, and it just continues to grow!

The guy on the left is my boyfriend, his name is Robbie, his nickname is RJ, but I call him J. From henceforth, he will be J.
J was not always as big of a fan as I was. But this trip, I think I finally changed that!! This is our third trip to Disney together, and it was the best yet! His favorite things include, Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom (SOTMK), rides, and anything not having to do with a parade or show.
This trip actually came about in 2015!
We went to Disney in November with my parents. We stayed at our first Moderate resort, Coronado Springs, and fell in love with moderates! We had always stayed value, just because we were never in our room, but with 4 adults, a moderate seemed like a good choice. It was also our first time on the (free) dining plan, which we loved!
So it seemed like a no brainier for J and I to book with a bounceback offer!
We decided it would be our first solo trip, so the wait begin!
We were originally booked at Wilderness Lodge with 30% off room discount. But when rumors of free dining started to approach, J and I talked about it and decided we really wanted free dining again. So I decided I would try to rebook us at Wilderness Lodge when it was released. Long story short, we had to cancel that reservation, and rebook at a moderate resort.
Which one you may ask??


We booked Port Orleans Riverside from September 8th-September 16th, a Garden View Room with free dining. We couldn't wait!
Now onto the fun stuff, our vacation!!

See ya' real soon!
​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Table of Contents

Day before Disney Day!

Day 1

Wake up, wake up it's time for Disney!
We flew, oh and pizza too!
It's a Blizzard out there!
Our room, and a little birthday surprise too!
Disney Springs and Splitsville Bowling!​

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Why are there more hours in the day before Disney?!
Or in this trip's case, not enough!

We both woke up so excited, tomorrow was the day!


The day before the trip was busy, J went off to work to rap up meetings with clients before the trip.
I wanted to finish washing clothes, packing, and I also had a meeting at 2:00. We also were having supper and cake with my family since I wouldn't be there to celebrate my birthday with them!
Totally doable.

I got a few things done in the morning, then went to get dressed for my meeting. Which started at 2:00, should have ended for 3:00.

But instead I got out of meeting for 5:30.


I called J to see where he was, he was on his way back from work and would be home for 6, and then we could leave to go and eat.
I made it home, and made a few last minute "call you when we get back from Disney" calls. Then we left for supper!

We had supper at our local Mexican restaurant. I'm not a huge fan of Mexican, but I LOVE their Queso dip.
So I pretty much ate chips, Queso, and a few bites of my Chicken Quesadilla.
I was happy!

When we got home it was close to 8! We still had to cut cake, take showers, oh yeah and finish packing!!


The cake was delicious! I specifically have to have cake from a local bakery every birthday, I look forward to it all year.
SO GOOD!


After we finished cake, we talked with my parents for a little while, and they helped us with packing, and a little bit of "adulting".

By the time J and I finished, it was midnight.
But of course we couldn't sleep, because Disney..duh.
We finally turned off the TV around 1.
And waited until our alarm went off at 4!!

Next up: Disney day!!!
See ya' real soon!​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Following along!

Glad to have you along for the TR!

 

[gluestickgirl]

Following along! We love POR - it's our home when we travel w/ the kids. We tried CBR this spring and just didn't love it anywhere near as much.

My husband and I were there for a quick anniversary trip just before you - the 4th-8th!

 

[WhoDatDisney]

Following as well

My wife went frequently as a child growing up and would often talk about it. We went on our first trip together (mine as well) in 2010. Was actually not excited as the trip got closer and continued to dread the thought of going. That quickly changed the minute I saw the look on our 2 kids faces when we walked in MK. Have been every year since in fact I am more excited to go than my wife is.

Can't wait until kids are old enough to leave with family and go just the two of us

 

[heaven2dc]

Anxious to hear all about your trip! What a pretty birthday cake!

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Following along! We love POR - it's our home when we travel w/ the kids. We tried CBR this spring and just didn't love it anywhere near as much.

My husband and I were there for a quick anniversary trip just before you - the 4th-8th!

Spoiler alert.....we LOVED POR, it was beautiful and all around a fantastic resort.

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Following as well

My wife went frequently as a child growing up and would often talk about it. We went on our first trip together (mine as well) in 2010. Was actually not excited as the trip got closer and continued to dread the thought of going. That quickly changed the minute I saw the look on our 2 kids faces when we walked in MK. Have been every year since in fact I am more excited to go than my wife is.

Can't wait until kids are old enough to leave with family and go just the two of us

So glad you found a way to love Disney! Sometimes it just takes seeing a place with the right person to make it all worth while!

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Anxious to hear all about your trip! What a pretty birthday cake!

Thank you! It as delicious! I wish I could have eaten more!!

 

[DisneyJillian18]

T'was the day of the Disney trip, and all through the house not a creature was stirring.....

JUST KIDDING!!

Our alarm went off at 4 AM, and I just about ran out of bed! Might not have had very much sleep, but we were leaving for DISNEY WORLD!!



I quickly fixed my hair, and slapped on a little bit of make-up.



J was ready in about 15 minutes, and he helped my Dad load our luggage into the car.
One more sweep through the house to make sure we didn't forget anything, we didn't thankfully!
We kissed our fur babies good-bye, there may have been some tears from me. But then we were out the door right at 5 AM on the dot!
We talked about our plans for the trip on the hour long ride to airport, we got there right at 6:00 AM!
This is where we said bye to Dad, and Mom walked us to security.
It was a quick process, but a tearful one as we've never been apart for this long. But Mom promised we would have fun, and I knew we'd be in constant contact anyway.
We made it through security easily, with only 4 people in front of us!
J was pulled to the side for additional screening due to metal detection in his hands? He didn't have any rings or bracelets on, and has no metal in his hands.. so odd. But he was quickly cleared, and deemed not a threat.
We found our gate, but decided to walk around in search for breakfast!

The airport was fairly empty!
I had heard there was a Dunkin Donuts in the airport, but apparently it was in another gate or the main terminal because our choices were slim! We ended up deciding on Smoothie King, I knew it probably wasn't a good idea to drink a large amount of liquid before a flight. But it seemed to be our only option!

First food pic of the trip!

We drank our smoothies and watched the sun come up while we waited to board.

Boarding started right in time at 7:15 AM, which went very smooth. If you are flying Southwest, I recommend the Early Bird Check-In. We were boarding position A 47-48. The whole process made me feel much better about the flight, which I was already nervous about, knowing we would be able to board the place early and get seats by each other made it so much better!

No turning back now, Mickey here I come!

We got a pretty good seat on the plane, right by the wing!
When I texted my Mom this, she said it as the safest place on a plane in case of a crash, uhhh thanks Mom.. I feel much better now.
A nice young man from Mississippi sat next to us on the flight, he was very sweet and even offered us some of his breakfast.
We declined but the offer was greatly appreciated!
He and his family were also going to Disney for a few days!

Next up: Our flight, and the Orlando International Airport!

See you real soon!!


​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Take-off went very smooth for our flight with no problems at all!

But J and I were sort of having a problem, we both had to use the bathroom some kind of bad!
As soon as the seat-belt sign came off we both jumped out of our seats to use one of the airplane restrooms, which I can now check off on my list of things I don't want to do again.

Once we sat back down, J decided to log onto his computer and get some last minute work done. I made him promise this as the last of work he'd see this week!

We got a mid-flight snack of peanuts, J got a coke, and I got a water.
The peanuts said lightly salted, but be warned they were actually pretty salty!


I watched J work, and looked out the window as we flew. Not much else for me to do!
See how I rhymed there

Soon enough we were told to pick up the lap trays, and electronics. We were going to be landing soon!
Landing went smooth, and I sent my Mom a "I'm safe" text

We got off the plane and decided we were both pretty hungry. The ride to Disney was usually about 45 minutes, plus checking in at Magical Express, and waiting for a bus, plus hotel check-in...we figured we might as well eat now before anyone got too cranky.
We stopped at Villa Pizza, I don't believe I've ever had their pizza before, but it smelled good!
We each got a slice of pepperoni pizza, and a water to share.

We both agreed the pizza was good, but a little too greasy.
After we finished we rode the fake monorail, and made our first pressed penny stop of the trip!
The Disney Store in the airport has pennies! After I got them all, we headed towards B, where Magical Express was. The walk is actually really far! Magical Express is WAY down there. We checked in with no problems after a small wait, the line looked much longer than it really was. We were then directed towards line 3. We waited about 5 minutes before a bus came for us!
We got extra lucky, because we got front row seats!!
J was upset because it as a Mears bus, and not a real Disney bus. But the front row seat quickly made up for it.
We were on the bus for 11:45, not bad!
After a short ride, (we didn't hit a lot of traffic) this was in our sights!

We're here!!!

Our first stop was Saratoga Springs, then French Quarter, Riverside, and finally Fort Wilderness Campground. In case you were wondering what the order was.
We got to Riverside and headed towards the Online Check-In counter. This resort is beautiful!!!
Pictures do it no justice!



Continued in next post
​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Check-In went smooth, and we were told our room wasn't quite ready yet. Which was fine, because we had plans!

We dropped our carry-ons off to luggage services, and headed towards the bus stop!

We sat down to wait for a bus to our first destination, and we waited, and we waited! No bus!!
Finally, I saw a small sign posted that said we would have to transfer to Animal Kingdom to get to our destination. Of course, I see the sign now that 3 Animal Kingdom buses have pasted us!


No big deal, and honestly it was our fault anyway.
We waited for the next Animal Kingdom bus and hopped on.
From there we transfer to a bus to our destination.

Blizzard Beach!



It had been a very long time since either of us had been here, so we figured we would try it out!
We rented a locker to store our things, and changed into our bathing suits.
In hinds sight, we probably should have changed at the hotel and put our clothes into our carry-ons. But it didn't really make a difference!

We headed out to check out the "slopes."
The first thing we rode was the ski lift, this is actually really neat!
But aside from there, we don't feel like Blizzard Beach is much to write home about.
We both prefer slides that use rafts versus the mats, just a personal thing.
I also feel it is aimed more towards children, so if you have have young ones I would check it out! The kids area seemed nice.
We did ride a few things, and rode around in the lazy river, which is always relaxing. But honestly, we didn't stay very long. We decided we both rather Typhoon Lagoon.
We collected our things from the locker and headed back towards the buses.



We did have to take a bus back to Animal Kingdom, then back to Riverside. This is a little bit annoying on Disney's part. I understand cut-backs, and maybe even being a little bit "greener" with the buses. But something good did come out of having to go back to Animal Kingdom, I saw Cory Martin from the DIS, and Tracey from Dreams Unlimited Travel podcast leaving the park with other Dreams agents!
I watch both podcast every week, so it was a bit of a celebrity moment!
I really regret not saying hi or even grabbing a picture, but I was in my wet bathing suit, and I figured they were in "work mode." But maybe I'll see them on another trip, and this time I'll pluck up the courage to say hello!

Next up, Disney Springs, and some Splitsville dining and bowling!

See ya' real soon!​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Once we got to Riverside, we went back to luggage delivery to pick up our carry-ons.
We also decided it would be smart to pick up our mugs, and we were also on the hunt for a small snack before supper.
Unfortunately,we were hungrier than we thought, because we finished them before I got a picture!
But J had a chocolate chip and I had a M&M cookie.
We set off to look for our home for the next 8 nights, and found out that we were in a great location!
We were in Magnolia Terrence, room 8548!
This was very close to the room request that I sent in! We were granted every request except the King size bed. Which ended up not being a terrible thing, we used the extra bed as a "dumping station" for our park bags.


We loved our room! The theme was understated while still being very pretty!

Our view!
It was gorgeous, it felt very homey.
While we were setting into the room, we had a knock on the door.
It was a birthday surprise from my parents!
It was very generous of them! The bag is a cooler, filled with snacks for us during the week!

A peek at what was inside!

I called to thank them, and sent them pictures of everything!
J took a short nap while I unpacked our suitcases and got the room a little organized.
We got dressed to head to our evening in Disney Springs!

See ya' real soon!
​

 

[DisneyJillian18]

Waiting for our bus!
Soon enough our destination was in view, Disney Springs!

We got off the bus and decided to walk around for a bit. We still had quite a bit of time before our reservation.
Planet Hollywood construction was underway!

We approached our dining spot for the evening, and decided to pop in to see if they could seat us early. We were both starving!

The restaurant was able to seat us!
If you are interested in a more in depth review of our meal, head over to my dining review and check it out!
Here I am!
If you are interested in the short version, we enjoyed our meal!
After our meal we decided to bowl for an hour!
We picked up our shoes, and were lead upstairs to a private lane. We were tucked into a little corner, which was really nice! It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves!


I believe in the hour we were able to finish four games! That helped to soften the blow of the price it is to bowl here!
We do bowl very regularly back home, so we are use to our balls, and lanes. J said he wished we could have brought our own balls, he would have done better score wise.
But it was a nice outing, and we would do it again!
I really like the atmosphere here, they play a variety of music over the speakers. It makes it very fun while still being in the "Disney Bubble."

The bowling balls has Disney characters on them!

Splitsville is decked out with funny signs, some about bowling, and some more general "fun" ones.

Overall we had a fun experience, at $20.00 per person for one hour it is pricey.
For two people like us, we can bowl a few games in one hour so it isn't so bad. But if you had a larger party you may only be able to get one or two games in.
Once we finished we walked around Disney Springs for a bit before heading back to the resort.
We had been up since 4:30, and we had an early morning!
Day one felt like a huge success, I feel like we got so much done!
See ya' real soon!​

 

[Calee]

Enjoying reading!!

 

[SEASONK]

Just found your trip report - can't wait to read more updates!!!
And GEAUX TIGERS!!!!

 

[amberdc1987]

I'm on for the ride! Can't wait to read more. You and your bf are adorable together!!!

 

[Lily13]

I am loving your trip report! How sweet of your parents to send you a cooler filled with snacks!