*Celebrate With Mickey Mouse!*-Update 1/1 Pg3 summary of rest of days and 1 more week

[Jazzabelle508]

Hello Everyone and Welcome to my PTR...

*Celebrate With Mickey Mouse!*

My name is Jenny and I am your host today for this Pre-Trip Report.

Here is my picture:

Once again my name is Jenny. I am 20 years old and I LOVE all things Disney! I have 2 entire playlists devoted to Disney on my iPhone, i'm obsessed with pretty much every disney website/book out there. Once i find out something is a Disney movie i have to see it. I am also infamous amongst my friends for my disney obsession. In fact I have helped several friends Plan their Disney Vacations. I am definitely am not new to the Disney bug, in fact my family has been taking Disney vacations since before i was even born. In fact I took my first steps in Disney like the baby in the one commercial that use to be on in the late 1990's where the family wanted to wait to take their first Disney Trip until the baby sister could walk. In addition to my Disney obsession I am also Harry Potter Obsessed! In fact i am about equally obsessed with both of them! Here is some more information about me.

Favorite Theme Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Attraction(s): Soarin, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Exhibition Everest, Spaceship Earth
Favorite Disney Show(s): Illuminations/Wishes
Favorite Disney Snack: Magic Kingdom Chocolate Chip Cookie, Dole Whip, Chocolate Mousse
Favorite Disney Meal: Castle/Le Cellier
Favorite Disney Dessert: Chocolate Wave (Coral Reef)
Disney Dream Resort(s): Yacht and Beach Club/Wilderness Lodge
Favorite Disney Movie(s): Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast
Favorite Disney Song: Be Our Guest, Under The Sea, Go The Distance, Arabian Nights, I'll Make A Man Out Of You, Stories

And Now Introducing My Travel Companion...

MY MOM!!!!

My mom and I are super close and I am so grateful to have her in my life and am so glad that she introduced me to Disney at such a young age. She is just as into disney as i am. She is the planner amongst the two of us, although i am beginning to help her with the planning. She also has a disney playlist on her phone. We are very similar personality wise as well. She also loves to give advice about disney to fellow friends and family members who are wanting to plan a Disney vacation. In fact, we are in the midst of planning a disney vacation for my brother and his fiancee as well as for us. Like I said before i am so grateful to have her and she is like my best friend. Here is more info about her.

Favorite Theme Park: Epcot
Favorite Attraction(s): Spaceship Earth, Pirates of the Carribbean, Exhibition Everest, Malestrom, Tower of Terror
Favorite Disney Show: Illuminations
Favorite Disney Snacks: Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich/Dole Whip
Favorite Disney Meal: Coral Reef/Castle
Favorite Disney Dessert: S'mores (50's Prime Time)
Disney Dream Resort: Wilderness Lodge/Yacht and Beach Club
Favorite Disney Movie: Beauty and The Beast
Favorite Disney Song(s): You've Got A Friend In Me, When You Wish Upon A Star, Belle, Arabian Nights



Up Next:Continued in the next post

 

[Jazzabelle508]

*Table Of Contents*

Introduction

The When, Where and Why

Intinerary (Non-Detailed)

A Fun Game

Dining Question

Dining Update

Day 1- Getting There is Half the Fun

A Day at Disney Studios

EPCOT FUN

Visiting Harry

A quick update for you

Why i haven't updated in a while

Day 5 Plan

WEDDING BELLS!!!! <3

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear all about it

 

[Jazzabelle508]

*The When, Why and Where*


The When: January 8th-18th 2012.
We knew that we wanted to go in January because i have my semester break from mid December until the end of January. We didn't want to go in December because it gets super crazy in Disney at the end of December when we would be able to go and my brother and his fiancee will be on their honeymoon in disney then as well. So that left the entire month of January available for us. Last trip we went to Disney from the 3rd-14th of January and we happened to be their right smack dab in the middle of the Disney Marathon weekend. Then we realized that right after the marathon weekend would be the perfect time to go. So we crunched some numbers, did some planning and then booked our trip. You may be wondering where are we going to stay. That question will be answered right now in...

The Where: Pop Century Resort.
My mom and I prefer the Value Resorts for several reasons. For one, Value Resorts are the most affordable which allows for more trips to the world. Another reason is that they have great theming. The last reason is that they are actually good resorts. The reason we chose POP over any of the All Star Resorts is because we find that it is friendlier to our type of vacation. The All-Star Resorts are great for people who are on a vacation in huge groups like school groups but for us it can get pretty crowded. My freshman year of high school was the first time we stayed at POP and we loved it. It is very easy to find unlike the All Star Resorts which we always seem to get lost trying to find. We do still like the all star resorts and are open to styaing their again, we just perfer POP that's all. and now for...

The Why: Because We love Disney (my 21st birthday will be 4 months after the trip but i feel like it will be 2 early to state that as a reason for the trip)

How: By air plane from O'hare and then traveling around Orlando by Rental Car (More details to come in this category)

Continued in the Next Post

 

[Jazzabelle508]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear all about it

Hope you enjoy!

 

[brdlyleon]

you seem just as obsessed as me and we seem to love pop just about the same....count me in too!!!

 

[Jazzabelle508]

you seem just as obsessed as me and we seem to love pop just about the same....count me in too!!!

Yay and

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Trip Itinerary

So now that I have shared the when, where and why about my Trip I thought I would treat you to a brief outline of our trip schedule, (I will post more details as time goes on about each day).

Day 1- January 8th, 2012

- Arrival Day
- DTD
- Whispering Canyon Cafe (Dinner)
- EMH at Magic Kingdom

Day 2- January 9th, 2012

- DHS
- 50's Primetime Cafe (Lunch)

Day 3- January 10th, 2012

- EPCOT
- Via Napoli (Dinner)

Day 4- January 11th, 2012

- HARRY POTTER LAND!!!!!!!
- Chef Mickey's (Dinner)

Day 5- January 12th, 2012

- Boma's (Breakfest)
- Animal Kingdom
- Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show

Day 6- January 13th, 2012

- EPCOT
- LeCellier (Lunch)

Day 7- January 14th, 2012

- 1900's Park Fare (Breakfest)
- Magic Kingdom
- Ohana's (Dinner)

Day 8- January 15th, 2012

- Magic Kingdom
- Cinderella's Royal Table (Lunch)

Day 9- January 16th, 2012

- Crystal Palace (Breakfest)
- DHS
- Sci Fi Dine-In Theater (Dinner)

Day 10- January 17th, 2012

- EPCOT
- Coral Reef (Lunch)

Day 11- January 18th, 2012

- EPCOT
- Leaving Disney (At least we don't leave untill 8pm at night so we still have almost a full day )

Continued in the Next Post

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Looks like you have good plans! LOTS of ADRs I see. I can't wait to hear about your review of the Whispering Canyone Cafe, ready for the onslaught of Ketchup? LOL

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Looks like you have good plans! LOTS of ADRs I see. I can't wait to hear about your review of the Whispering Canyone Cafe, ready for the onslaught of Ketchup? LOL

Thanks Yeah, we did kind of go crazy on the ADR's but after being on the DIS I have a really long list of restaraunts i want to try but i'm not ready to give any of them up. Whispering canyon is one of our family's absolute favorite places to eat in all of disney world. I always want to ask for ketchup even though i don't like it. I highly reccomend it! My brother one time drank his root beer really quickly so our waitress gave him a huge bucket filled with root beer, it was hillarious!!! It does depend on the server but usually we are lucky enough to get a great server. Our last trip we went there we had a awesome server (her name is foxy roxy and is one of the best and craziest servers there). I was celebrating my high school graduation so she did a bunch of extra stuff to "celebrate" it! Pretty much everyone who has had her as a server loves her! I read another TR where she was the people's server and they raved about her. In fact Disney food blog did a review of whispering canyon recently and they had her as a server!

 

[StephaniexMarie]

I'm in! Your ADR's look perfect. Have you done Spirit of Aloha before? We did it for the first time last trip and loved it.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

I'm in! Your ADR's look perfect. Have you done Spirit of Aloha before? We did it for the first time last trip and loved it.

yay and , and thanks we are thinking about switching the crystal palace one with o'hana but we aren't sure yet. and yeah we have gone to spirit of aloha every year for probably 8 trips now. It is fantastic, I highly reccomend it! I know that the other dinner shows get a better rep but i really do enjoy the food and story here. The one thing i will say about it is that i don't care for the volcano dessert but that's ok because the food is super filling (especially with only 2 people).

 

[Jazzabelle508]

A Fun Game

Hi Everyone Hope you are all having a great friday and I hope that everyone in the northeast is feeling well prepared for the hurricane and i also hope that it doesn't impact you as badly as they say it's going 2. (I'm not from the northeast but i still feel awful that people in the northeast are about to experience this hurricane).

Ok, now back to Disney. So i found this site through the DIS called Simple Disney Things. This site makes daily posts about each simple thing in Disney that makes them happy. I thought that this was a cool concept for a site so I thought I would bring a similar concept right over here but modifying it of course. For my twist on the site, every week I am going to mention one of my favorite things in Disney World and elaborate on why it makes me so happy. So today's thing in disney that makes me happy is...

GOING THROUGH THE MAGICAL DISNEY GATEWAY ARCH!!!!!!!!!

I figured I would start with the thing that I know everyone's trip starts with (unless you go through the back entrance on accident but that is another story). For me, the entrance into disney is such a happy time. You have the whole trip in front of you and everyone is so happy. My mom and I like to listen to disney music as we go through the archway. We countdown once we see the gate and scream as we are passing through it. I love the energy I get after going through the archway as well. Since my mom and I have made POP our resort of choice whenever we stay in Disney we sometimes can see the gate from our room everyday 2. It's nice because we are always reminded that we are in our happy place but it is also sad because we are looking at it from the wrong direction (luckily pop is still in disney property). If anyone has any opinons on passing through the magical gateway arch or has any other comments relating to disney trips feel free to comment below.

Continued in the Next Post

 

[Dizneydaz]

Great start to your PTR.

Love seeing the gateway as well and always slow down to take a picture (me and all the other Disney Geeks in front of me)

We too are staying at POP again this year, in October.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Hi everyone

So I hope you are all having a great monday (well, as good of a monday you can possibly have). I have just finished my first day of classes which kind of sucks after 3 months of summer (one of my favorite things about the college lifestyle) but whatever. So my mom and I were looking at menus for each of our places we are eating. Most of the palaces we are eating at are places both my mom and i have eaten at before so no matter what we read it won't impact our opinon of it. while we were reading reviews we saw many wonderful o'hana reviews (along with a couple of bad ones) and we also found mixed reviews for crystal palace. We currently have reservations for crystal palace and I was just wondering what each of you think of the restaraunt. I was also wondering what each of you think of o'hana and whether or not you would reccommend it. In both my mom and I's eyes it's one or the other so I was just wondering if you think that o'hana's is a better place to eat than crystal palace.

Continued in the Next Post

 

[Vwdiva93]

Hi there! Joining in! Wow your trip is going to be a long one, I'm so jealous!! The max I've ever stayed at Disney is 7 days. I hope one day I can just go for like 2 weeks, it would definitely be much more relaxing! As for the Ohana and Crystal Palace advice, I've never eaten at either so I can't really say. From reading TR's though both look amazing, but I've always heard better things about Ohana's.

I have a quick question for you too! I noticed on Jess' (Disneyfreak508) TR that you mentioned your in a sorority? I'm a college freshman too and have been toying around with the idea. I really want to meet and make some new friends but am worried a sorority would take up too much time, cost too much, etc. So any advice on them would be great

Can't wait to hear more about your trip plans!

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Hi there! Joining in! Wow your trip is going to be a long one, I'm so jealous!! The max I've ever stayed at Disney is 7 days. I hope one day I can just go for like 2 weeks, it would definitely be much more relaxing! As for the Ohana and Crystal Palace advice, I've never eaten at either so I can't really say. From reading TR's though both look amazing, but I've always heard better things about Ohana's.

I have a quick question for you too! I noticed on Jess' (Disneyfreak508) TR that you mentioned your in a sorority? I'm a college freshman too and have been toying around with the idea. I really want to meet and make some new friends but am worried a sorority would take up too much time, cost too much, etc. So any advice on them would be great

Can't wait to hear more about your trip plans!

yay and Yeah, last january was my first time going on a disney trip longer than 7 days. It was great having a few extra days but unfortunately the trip still went by 2 quickly. It is also nice because you have more time to do everything you want 2. If i had a shorter trip we probably wouldn't go to harry potter land. It is nice getting to try more restaraunts and do more relaxing activities such as mini golf and resort hop. and don't worry about the restaraunt thing if you haven't been 2 either one. I was just curious. I think my mom and I are leaning towards o'hana's. As for the sorority, I went through rush fall of last year (i'm a sophmore so i'm not much older than you) and honestly it is probably one of my best college decisions so far. I go 2 a smaller school so my experiences have not been like the ones my friends and bigger schools have had. I met many great people through my sorority and I highly reccomend it. One tip I have is to talk to someone involved in greek life at your school. I did that and it really helped me. One of the people I talked to is in my sorority and is now my big sister and she really helped me figure out how everything worked. It does take up alot of time but it is time that is easily manageable. For instance you might have a meeting once a week and then a couple of events throughout the week. It really doesn't take up much more time than other clubs and alot of the activities help you make new friends and help you manage your time better. It really is like everything else in school, it come down to time maanagement. It does cost a fair amount depending on the sorority but you can pay in installments and usually they are willing to work with you once again depending on the sorority. My best advice to you when going through recruitment and be yourself. I read your TR and it sounds like you school is smaller like mine so rush will probably not be as intense as it is at bigger schools. if you just relax and enjoy it then other girls will see that and like you that much better. My experience wasn't like the tv shows but that does depend on the school. one of my friends from high school is in a sorority at a bigger school and it is much more intense. It also really does depend on your school as well. Good luck and if you have anymore questions feel free to ask me.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Great start to your PTR.

Love seeing the gateway as well and always slow down to take a picture (me and all the other Disney Geeks in front of me)

We too are staying at POP again this year, in October.

Thanks Yeah, I am always the one taking the gate picture. I always try to get the whole gate in but it's 2 hard so i just try to get the main part in. I always find it amusing how everyone goes so slowly through the gate. If you accidently went through the gates you would have no idea what was going on. and yay for pop

 

[Vwdiva93]

yay and Yeah, last january was my first time going on a disney trip longer than 7 days. It was great having a few extra days but unfortunately the trip still went by 2 quickly. It is also nice because you have more time to do everything you want 2. If i had a shorter trip we probably wouldn't go to harry potter land. It is nice getting to try more restaraunts and do more relaxing activities such as mini golf and resort hop. and don't worry about the restaraunt thing if you haven't been 2 either one. I was just curious. I think my mom and I are leaning towards o'hana's. As for the sorority, I went through rush fall of last year (i'm a sophmore so i'm not much older than you) and honestly it is probably one of my best college decisions so far. I go 2 a smaller school so my experiences have not been like the ones my friends and bigger schools have had. I met many great people through my sorority and I highly reccomend it. One tip I have is to talk to someone involved in greek life at your school. I did that and it really helped me. One of the people I talked to is in my sorority and is now my big sister and she really helped me figure out how everything worked. It does take up alot of time but it is time that is easily manageable. For instance you might have a meeting once a week and then a couple of events throughout the week. It really doesn't take up much more time than other clubs and alot of the activities help you make new friends and help you manage your time better. It really is like everything else in school, it come down to time maanagement. It does cost a fair amount depending on the sorority but you can pay in installments and usually they are willing to work with you once again depending on the sorority. My best advice to you when going through recruitment and be yourself. I read your TR and it sounds like you school is smaller like mine so rush will probably not be as intense as it is at bigger schools. if you just relax and enjoy it then other girls will see that and like you that much better. My experience wasn't like the tv shows but that does depend on the school. one of my friends from high school is in a sorority at a bigger school and it is much more intense. It also really does depend on your school as well. Good luck and if you have anymore questions feel free to ask me.

Thanks for the advice! Yeah my school is pretty small, only about 5,000 students so I'm sure it would be less intense as well. But yeah I keep hearing that it's different at every school so I definitely need to find that out. One of my roommate's friends has an older sister who is the president of a sorority on our campus, so I think I might talk to her also before I decide. Most of the sororities on my campus don't rush till spring so I guess I still have time to decide. But thanks again for your help

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Thanks for the advice! Yeah my school is pretty small, only about 5,000 students so I'm sure it would be less intense as well. But yeah I keep hearing that it's different at every school so I definitely need to find that out. One of my roommate's friends has an older sister who is the president of a sorority on our campus, so I think I might talk to her also before I decide. Most of the sororities on my campus don't rush till spring so I guess I still have time to decide. But thanks again for your help

Yeah i highly reccomend talking to someone who has already rushed successfully at your school. I have heard of alot of schools who wait untill spring (especially smaller school, in fact my small school is the only small school I know of that also does fall rush.) Another thing I would reccomend is finding out from upperclassmen about each sororities reputation on campus, the people in each sorority can't really give you that information but other non-greek people can give you that info. It is really helpful to know each groups rep beforehand because then you can go through rush knowing more what it will be like. During the actual rush process I found that each sorority I visited only got to show the surface of who they are due to rules that the school and each sorority have beforehand.