Chunkymonkey & Chunky Sisters B-day Celebration 2011!! Completed TR!

[chunkymonkey]

Hi everyone!! This is my THIRD TR!! I'm so happy to be starting this TR because I just finished my 2nd TR about 2 days before I left for this trip. I guess I will be happy always writing a TR or a PTR for Disney!!

Anyways, my 3 sisters and I went to WDW from March 26-31st to celebrate their birthdays! Mine had already passed so I wasn't celebrating anymore at this point...but nonetheless, I had a great time!

We are all from the NYC area!

The cast:

Left to Right:

Chunkeysis, who turns the big 30 this year. It was her idea to go to Disney for her birthday and I was totally on board! She's been to WDW before when we were younger, but was too young to remember much. From now on she will be known as CS

Chunkymonkey, ME! I am the oldest sister, the trip planner, the candid-shot photographer, and WDW addict! I have been to WDW numerous times, with the most recent time prior to this trip in Sept 2010 for free dining. I was there with Chubbyhubby, my DH.

Chunkytwin 1, she is the older of the twin by 20 minutes. She doesn't remember much about WDW because she was only a wee kid when we last went with our family. She came again with her fiance back before they were married but she thinks they only went to DHS and not to all the parks, and she doesn't remember it either! Fromn now on she will be known as CT1

Chunkytwin 2, she is the youngest and baby of the family. Like CT1, she came to WDW when we were younger, but doesn't remember it. However she did go to Disneyland and CA with me and DH a few years ago, and she had a great time, so Disney was a little more fresh in her mind than everyone else. From now on she will be known as CT2


Here's where we stayed:

POFQ!! Me and DH stayed her in Sept 2010 and loved it. This time, the rooms were nicer since they had been refurbished!

Dining plan:

We all were on the regular dining plan for 5 nights. Here were our scheduled ADRs:

Coral Reef for dinner
Sci fi for lunch (OOP)
Ohana for dinner
Garden Grill for dinner
Tusker house for lunch
backup Ohana dinner (in case we didn't make it the first time if we were watching Fantasmic! that night)
The Wave for breakfast (OOP)
Akershus for dinner

Did we stick to all of them? Well you'll have to read on to find out!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Table of Contents

• Background
• Saturday Part 1
• Saturday Part 2
• Saturday Part 3
• Saturday Part 4
• Saturday Part 5
• Photopass pics from Saturday
• Sunday Part 1
• Sunday Part 2
• Additional Pics and Sunday Part 3
• Side post: Disney Aulani and Renting DVC Points!
• Sunday Part 4
• Side Post: Our Trip to San Francisco!
• Sunday Part 5
• Monday
• Tuesday Part 1
• Tuesday Part 2
• Tuesday Part 3
• Side Post: Disney's Aulani in Hawaii!
• Side Post: WWoHP and an Impromptu DisMeet!
• Wednesday and Thursday: The End of our trip!

 

[flamestarrdust]

Joining in! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[Missyrose]

Wuh-hoo! I just finally finished reading your last TR, now onto this one!

 

[tinacaplan]

So excited for this! You take some of the best pictures I"ve seen on the boards!

 

[mandibc11]

I'm joining in! I read your last one, and have to say that you inspired me to purchase a new camera last week! I read some of your photography guides, as well! Hopefully for our trip to Disney in May, I will have the hang of it!

 

[lovegrumpy]

Subbing

 

[chunkymonkey]

SO with this being my upteenth time at WDW, it was easy to sort of get into the theme park "mode" - meaning up at the crack of dawn, running to get FPs at all the major rides (TSM!!) and not leaving until well past the closing time. Mid-day breaks weren't really our thing with DH and I, and we rarely used the pools at the resorts (although we did use POFQ's pool twice and it was cute).

Here's me and DH on our previous trip:

However my sisters were in "vacation" mode. I dont' think they really grasped how it was spring break, and how the crowds would be overwhelming, and how TSM FPs really do run out! But overall, they work on a less "hectic" pace than me and DH and they really wanted to enjoy their time at WDW. I did promise them a few pool breaks in the afternoon, and I promised I woulnd't be the Disney Ride Nazi....all the time.

So finding the right balance would prove to be difficult at times. I really wanted this to be a trip that my sisters would enjoy. I know that DH and I, being WDW vetrans, have our own method of touring, and we know exactly what we want to do and where to go, whereas my sisters did not. I did all the planning and prep for this trip and I basically acted like a tour guide at the parks! It was fun for the first few days...but yes it did take it's toll towards the end when we were all tired...my sisters barely had to open a map, I did everything!

Here's me in my full Minnie glory, LOL.

This TR is also going to be slightly different....I didn't take any notes. Being park guide, tour guide, transportation guru, and candid-shot photograper, I barely had enough time let alone energy to take many notes, but what I do have are plenty of pictures. So it will be more of a pictoral diary rather than fully blown TR. I just can't remember everything we did. But I think I will have plenty of pics to keep you happy. I am also somewhat of a professional photographer as you can see from my previous TR. However on this trip, I couldn't fathom bringing my heavy DSLR, so I brought a few other toys with me:

The Panasonic Lumix GF1 - it's like a DSLR but much smaller. I only have 2 lenses for this camera - but I kept my prime 20mm 1.7 lens on it most of the time because it's such a sweet lens. I had just gotten it so I was getting used to it at the same time. Most of the photos you see here, are from this camera, and have not really been post processed at all.

This is my point and shoot which is waterproof (thank goodness) - I found this very useful on our trip. LOL

I also pre-ordered the photopass cd, which was great as now we have pictures with all of us! So I will post pics when they come in later in the TR...

Stay tuned...

 

[Heffielump]

Were you at DTD on the 26th? I think I may have seen you there!

Hope you didn't get caught in the crazy rain storms that Orlando got!

 

[Cat0727]

Woo hoo I'm here!

 

[Monknmom]

joining in!

 

[dtr_angel]

Yay! I'm on board again, I cannot wait to hear all about it!

I know what you mean about not remembering what happens... I try to take a lot of pictures at Disney, but when you do so much and you're at it all day, sometimes by the end of the night I can't remember things that happened that morning! Since I am doing my first TR, I'm taking a tiny notebook to jot down some notes so I can remember.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Our flight on Jetblue was scheduled to leave at 7am from Newark to Orlando. We all spent the night at my parents place where CS still lives so my dad can drive us to the airport in the morning. CS was not packed yet the night before and she gave us a fashion show before deciding what outfits to pack. She is definitely the fashionista of the family. I pretty much brought the same stuff I brought on my last trip&LOL

We got up bright and early and got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Heres pics from our departure:

I got this bag on our trip in May 2009

Our traveling footwear

After we landed:

I purchased this Disney Couture necklace for CS for her b-day. She wore it almost the whole time! I bought my other sisters Disney gift cards because they are pickier. It turns out they actually really liked the Disney Couture stuff but they arent sold at WDW!?!

Yay! Magical Express!

Looks like the early flight really got to CT1

I missed the shot of the WDW sign because the ME bus was moving too fast! It came out as a huge blur. Oh well.

I did however get the POFQ sign

I did online check in but it wasnt necessary. There wasnt anyone on line!

Our room wasnt ready so we checked out carry ons with the bellhop service and headed to DTD for some lunch!

Stay tuned&

 

[tinacaplan]

I have often wondered why the Disney couture stuff isn't sold at Disneyworld! That seems beyond nonsensical. Great start! As always, I am marveling over the quality of your photographs.

In case you haven't noticed my ticker (ahem...sorry I don't mean to be so shameless, but I'm going for it...), we're headed to AKL for a week in July and needless to say I am going to want to take a TON of pictures and I'm not thrilled with my current point and shoot piece of junk. Just curious what you would recommend in the under $150 category. I'm not talented enough to spend more than that! It would be a waste on me!

Can't wait for more! Especially looking forward to your pics of the newly rehabbed rooms at POFQ.

 

[natebenma]

I am so happy to see your new TR! Sorry to hear about the weather woes!

 

[annmarieda]

for the new TR!!!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I'm here and I can't wait for more!!! You are all gorgeous! Love (Ct1's I think???) shoes!! You take AWESOME pictures!

 

[dtr_angel]

Yay, you started! I LOVE that necklace that you bought for your sister. I saw it on the Disney Store site a few days ago and almost ordered it.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Were you at DTD on the 26th? I think I may have seen you there!

Hope you didn't get caught in the crazy rain storms that Orlando got!

Yup and yes. We did get caught in them and although it did provide non-stop pouring rain for 2 of them, we still did not let it dampen our spirits.

Woo hoo I'm here!

Yay!! Glad to see you here too!

joining in!

Yay!! Welcome!

Yay! I'm on board again, I cannot wait to hear all about it!

I know what you mean about not remembering what happens... I try to take a lot of pictures at Disney, but when you do so much and you're at it all day, sometimes by the end of the night I can't remember things that happened that morning! Since I am doing my first TR, I'm taking a tiny notebook to jot down some notes so I can remember.

Thats a good idea. If I had the time and patience, I might have done that!

I have often wondered why the Disney couture stuff isn't sold at Disneyworld! That seems beyond nonsensical. Great start! As always, I am marveling over the quality of your photographs.

In case you haven't noticed my ticker (ahem...sorry I don't mean to be so shameless, but I'm going for it...), we're headed to AKL for a week in July and needless to say I am going to want to take a TON of pictures and I'm not thrilled with my current point and shoot piece of junk. Just curious what you would recommend in the under $150 category. I'm not talented enough to spend more than that! It would be a waste on me!

Can't wait for more! Especially looking forward to your pics of the newly rehabbed rooms at POFQ.

Yay!! Good seeing you here Tina! Wow AKL in July? Lucky duck!! Hmm, my sister has a a canon s90 which is amazing. It takes the best pictures out of all the point and shoots I've seen and used. If she will only upload some pictures, I could show them to you!

I am so happy to see your new TR! Sorry to hear about the weather woes!

Yay!! Welcome Dee! Yes we had some horrendous weather...

for the new TR!!!

Yay!! Good to see you here Ann!

I'm here and I can't wait for more!!! You are all gorgeous! Love (Ct1's I think???) shoes!! You take AWESOME pictures!

Awww thank you! If you're referring to the Tory Burch flats, yes they are CT1's. I think we all have a pair (or 2) but I find them not that comfy as you'd think.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Yay, you started! I LOVE that necklace that you bought for your sister. I saw it on the Disney Store site a few days ago and almost ordered it.

I got it at the physical store at Disney in Times Square. They sold Disney couture and that necklace was actually on sale.