From Ragged to Royal...Two sisters journey. Sept 2015

[disneyaddicted]

This trip had been a dream of ours for years, just us girls, 2 sisters, best friends experiencing the world like only sisters with a tight bond like ours could do.
I'll give you a sneak peak of what's to come, We get the royal treatment on our first park day. We attempt 4 parks in 1 day using all of Disneys transportation. We meet a Disney celebrity and we get adventurous with the Wild Africa Trek.
[GALLERY=][GALLERY=][/GALLERY][/GALLERY]
I'll start out with a picture of us. My name is Ty, I am on the left, I am going to skip long introductions, I'll keep it short and sweet, I fell in love with WDW on my first trip in 2006, since then it's been my lifelong quest to convert as many people over to the magic of Disney.

My sister Bo is on the right, she was one of my conquests, I successfully converted her in 2011, when we took a trip with our Mother and another friend. It was on this particular trip that we started the idea of a sisters only trip that would happen 4 years later. We saved and planned and saved some more. This trip was going to be the trip to beat all other trips. Two weeks at Art of Animation in the Little Mermaid room. Magic your tickets with park hopper. During the planning we also added MNSSHP and the Wild Africa Trek to the itinerary. Due to the fact that I live in Pa and Bo lives in Mi. we skyped almost every weekend for a year so we could plan together, we covered every inch of the Disney maps, scoured sites with crowd levels and park times and since we did not qualify for any discounts, meaning no free dining we had our meals planned almost to the penny. Finally after a countdown that started at 500 days it was the day before our trip. We both had to work, I was sick in my stomach with anticipation. At work all my patients got to hear me talk about my upcoming trip, they should consider themselves lucky. It was a slow day and there were 2 other nurses in that day so my manager let me leave 3 hours early, no lying...as I was gathering up my stuff and clocking out "Let it go" came on over the radio, the whole office erupted in laughter. I called Bo as I went out to my car.

"This time tomorrow we will be at our resort, I can't stand it I'm so excited."

 

[scrhsa]

I went with my sister in Sept. also. We were celebrating our 50th bdays. We are 18 months apart and decided to split the difference. It was the BEST TRIP ever Can't wait to see how your trip went!!!

 

[disneyaddicted]

The morning of my trip I was sickly exhausted but knew I would sleep on the plane. I needed to leave the house by 4:00am to catch my flight slightly after 6:00am, in true fashion it was 4:15 by the time I hopped in my husbands truck who then informed me he had to make a quick stop to drop off some work equipment, it was 10 minutes in the opposite direction so that put us behind, then he had to stop for gas, another 10 minutes then he missed our exit for the airport another 15 minutes...Let's just say I had no time to catch my breath at the airport, once I made it through security and to my gate my flight had just started boarding. I was flying southwest and so grateful that I had paid for the early bird, I was one of the first 20 people to board and found a window seat close to the front. I texted Bo to let her know I was on the plane, she herself was just leaving for the airport, she would call me when she landed in Orlando. It was a nonstop flight to Orlando for me. I made my way to the fake monorail and then to the central hub to wait for my sisters call. I turned on my phone and saw her text, her flight had been delayed, so I called her and we talked while I ate breakfast. All in all I waited an extra 3-4 hours for her to show up. I made myself right at home in the airport. Plugged in my charger for my phone, got out my travel pillow, put my feet up on my carry on and napped a bit. I also called and talked to my mom, talked to some friends on facebook, but mostly I just stared off into the abyss, dreaming of all the great things to come. Bo called me when she landed, our plans to meet in the central hub of the airport changed and we decided to meet at DME instead. Bo made it there first. I hadn't seen my sister in a year so our reunion was hugs tears and laughter, Picture this in slow motion, we are maybe 20 feet from each other, We drop our carry-ons and run to each other. It was a total sisters moment. You would of thunk it had been more than 1 year since we truly saw each other. Once that scene was played, it was down to Disney business. We didn't waste any time getting to our bus, I would love to post the pics we took on the bus but they are on Bo's camera.

This would be our first stay at AoA for both of us. Pulling up to the resort was emotional, something new for us to experience together, you see this was my 6th trip and Bo's 2nd but I had always stayed at Pop, so we got to have this first time moment together, ooooooh, aaaaaah, being the sister dorks that we are, we walked into the lobby with our arms linked. we were met by a CM right away who directed us to another CM that would be doing our check in.
He kept laughing at Bo who kept whooping out loud, her excitement was contagious and we drew a crowd. The CM gave us each a family reunion button and then a folder full of parks maps and other important WDW information, we asked for a second one as we are scrapbookers and this was pertinent for our memories. He obliged us and sent us on our merry way.

It was hot when we stepped outside the lobby, we were standing in front of the Great big Blue pool, music was playing as my makeup melted and slid off my face. Bo and I knew it would be hot, we prepared ourselves for this, I myself did not use the AC in my car for almost the entire summer, the heat was not going to stop us from our long awaited trip, no way...but man it was hot. we looked on our map and started heading in the direction of the Little Mermaid section. We had read that it would be a long walk but to a scrapbooker that means nothing but plenty of photo opps. First one.....
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Mine...Mine..Mine... picture is meh, but the video posted to FB with us standing there saying mine, mine, mine was a big hit.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]click on this picture to see video
we continued our adventure through the Lion king section, the fun pics are on Bo's camera, like the one where we reenacted the scene from the Lion King where Scar let Mufasaa drop from the cliff into the wildebeests below. (once I get her pictures I will post them) for now I will give you our Little Mermaid pictures.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
We made it to our room scanned my band and...nothing, so Bo scanned hers, nothing. We checked our folder and yup this was the room number written down on it, I scanned again and again fast then slow, held it there while trying the door, trying the door then scanning...nothing. We started preparing ourselves for the long hot walk back to the lobby when like an angel from the mist (it was just heat waves really) a CM appeared. She tried helping us and finally used her magic key to let us in, she called down to the front to get our bands fixed and discovered we were in the wrong room, the CM had reversed the numbers when he wrote them down, so it was a tiny walk to our new room.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Our actual room, he he heeee. we enter and before we can muck it up with our luggage and what nots we take pictures.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=][/GAL
And the picture that inspired us to sing in the shower every morning
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Wouldn't that inspire you to sing too? Look at this stuff, isn't it neat? We also figured out that the length of the song was really all you needed for adequate shower time.
We freshened up a bit and then headed down to the bus stop. We only had 10 park tickets so our first day would be a non park day, we were going to DTD or Disney Springs as it's called now, first thing on our bucket list was to go up in the hot air balloon.

 

[disneyaddicted]

I went with my sister in Sept. also. We were celebrating our 50th bdays. We are 18 months apart and decided to split the difference. It was the BEST TRIP ever Can't wait to see how your trip went!!!

Oh wow, we were there the 12th -24th, when were ya'll there? My sister and I are 2 years apart.

 

[Kari0180]

The Wild Africa Trek is on my bucket list, I can't wait to read about it!

 

[disneyaddicted]

There had been a lot of changes to Disney Springs since we had last been there, not just the name. We discovered that there is no longer 2 bus stops anymore, so we made the long walk all the way to Friends in Flight only to learn that it had been grounded due to high winds. This had happened on our 2011 trip as well, we decided to hang out a bit and see if it would reopen. Starbucks was right there so we went on in and we each got a very berry hibiscus tea "Vente please". In anticipation of this trip and our love of Starbucks I had loaded up on Starbucks gift cards, (I'm not a gold card member like Bo) my first purchases of the trip. I don't count breakfast cause that was still at the airport. We went outside and sipped our drinks like ladies, the air had gotten even more sticky and within minutes the sky turned gray the winds blew us bald and the rains came down. We went back into Starbucks to wait it out.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Cheers, May the weather always be in our favor from here on.

Our drinks lasted longer than the storm. It was still pretty cloudy out and the prospect of going up in the balloon were slim to none. We started the long walk back to the bus stop, I was wearing flip flops. I'm a Disney veteran, I should have known better, but honestly I didn't think we would be walking so much on our first day. I got a blister, this had not happened since my rookie year. Luckily I had comfy shoes waiting for me at the resort. We stopped to rest my poor feet and Bo saw the PP CM, we had purchased the memory maker so asked the CM to take our picture.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
She then told us to look to our left...uummm ok. A few days later when checking out our MM pictures we saw that she had given us this
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
our first of many magic shots.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]

 

[disneyaddicted]

The Wild Africa Trek is on my bucket list, I can't wait to read about it!

It's amazing, I can't wait to write about it and post the pictures.

 

[scrhsa]

Oh wow, we were there the 12th -24th, when were ya'll there? My sister and I are 2 years apart.

We just missed you guys...we were there the 8th through the 12th. It was our first time at Pop. She is trying to get me to go back with her, my Mom and my Aunt. She says she needs me to help wrangle my Mom and Aunt . I just realized it would be two generations of sisters. I might just have to do that

 

[disneyaddicted]

We just missed you guys...we were there the 8th through the 12th. It was our first time at Pop. She is trying to get me to go back with her, my Mom and my Aunt. She says she needs me to help wrangle my Mom and Aunt . I just realized it would be two generations of sisters. I might just have to do that

That would be a great thing to celebrate at Disney.

 

[disneyaddicted]

Bo is going to send me a disc of her photos, I'm realizing that the majority of pictures on my camera are of Bo and that most pictures of me are on Bo's camera. Also Bo took more pictures than I did. So once I have the pictures I will do small flash back stories to include those pics. like the tons of pics we took at Disney Springs while shopping.
It rained off and on while shopping, the umbrellas were opened and closed more than I can count. We spent a lot of time in the big Disney store "Wonderful World of Disney"
Bo is lots of fun to shop with, she picks things up, tries them on, plays with it, ponders it. She found a little Mickey Mouse white glove keychain, "Oh look Ty, it's a finger glove." She said trying to put it on her finger. She's a dork.
I'm the type of shopper who carries things around that I plan on buying but usually puts all of it back because I second guess spending money. I must have picked up the Vera Bradley messenger bag a hundred times and then set it back down. "I'll wait closer to the end of the trip before handing out that kind of cash." We were looking for gifts to bring back for our mother, a huge Disney fan herself who was quite upset that she was not going on this trip but also understood it was a "SISTERS" trip, plus Florida weather in September would have been too hot for her. I picked up a mug for myself and then put it back later, I also carried around earings and a hoodie. Bo had her heart set on the canvas Disney crocs, she found them and that was that, no second guessing, they were hers. I also thought about buying a pair too but I already had them, they just didn't look as new as Bo's. We were heading to the register when there it sat, I swear a light was beaming down on it. I made a beeline for it, picked it up and went straight to the register, no waiting for this purchase, I had to have it, I couldn't risk it not being there later if I waited. The Vera Bradley was a distant memory, this was the bag for me.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
and of course what's a Disney purse without a matching wallet?
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
Then it only seemed right that I get the matching scarf as well.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
I was a happy girl, all of this for less than the price of one Vera Bradley. (I still want the Vera though) Bo and I each took advantage of the incentive purchase. spend so much and get the beach towel for 15. After all that shopping we were tired and hungry. We waited at the bus stop for a very long time, but never a dull moment when I'm with my sister, we laughed so much my stomach hurt.
Once back at the resort we went to waves of Flavor for dinner, we order pizza and a Caesar salad. We also got the refillable mugs of which paid for themselves by our second night. I drank my weight in Gold Peak tea.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
For what it was dinner was really good, it served it's purpose. I have always loved the Caesar salads at Disney, the salad to dressing ratio is spot on. We ate slowly while going over the next days itinerary. After dinner we went to our room and happy to see our bags there we got out our suits and went down to the pool for an hour.
[GALLERY=][/GALLERY]
It was actually dark when we went down to the pool, we didn't have our cameras with us. We wasted no time getting in the water. I noticed right away the water burned my blister which had already broke open, it was then we realized it was a salt water pool, I liked it. The water felt amazing, we took advantage of being weightless and made a promise that we would not let this amazing pool be taken for granted, we would enjoy a swim every day. We ended up breaking that promise but only by a few days. On a different note, do ya'll see the blue thing with the white medal arm thingy. Bo was so impressed with this, being a physical therapist assistant things like this make her happy, she said and I quote "Good job Disney, you've done well." This thing allows those in wheelchairs to enter/exit the pool safely.
We stayed in the pool way past the pruning stage. Neither one of us wanting to get out, but alas, the lifeguard announced the pool would be closing in 10 minutes. I got out and got our towels, it was then that my legs cramped so bad I couldn't walk. I knew from experience to stay hydrated during the day so this type thing wouldn't happen but it happened anyway. Just when my legs would start to feel better and I would stand up..BAM, muscle cramp again. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, I guess I kind of did both simultaneously. Finally I was good enough to walk, I hobbled back to our room on the 4th floor, thank goodness we weren't far from the pool. once in the room we got on our jammies and set to the task of putting all of our stuff away. We both like our room to be clean and organized, I had brought collapsible cubes from home to store our make up and toiletries. We also brought hangers and utilized the dresser. Bo needed room for her 40 bras. It was comical the amount of bras she kept pulling out of her suit case. After the room was settled and our suitcases stored away, our outfits layed out for the following day we finally crawled into our beds. I requested a magical wake up call to allow us plenty of time to make rope drop. I turned on my fan for white noise and off to sleep we went. Our vacation started out a little ragged but nothing to cry about, we rolled with the punches knowing that tomorrow is a new day and another chance for perfection.

 

[disneyaddicted]

Oh wow, we were there the 12th -24th, when were ya'll there? My sister and I are 2 years apart.

I gave you the wrong dates, we were there the 15th thru the 27th.

 

[frassieshines]

Following along
I would love to take a trip to WDW with my sister!!

 

[Pesky]

Following too. Love the idea of touring WDW with my sister!

 

[oOJulieOo]

Joining in! What a fun way to do Disney, with your sister!

I'm loving your report so far.

That gigantic tea from Starbucks looks SO GOOD!

 

[DHare]

Hello,
I've been a lurker for years and have decided i should join in and start posting. I love your trip report so far, I can't wait to hear more!!! I have always wanted to hear more about staying in a Little Mermaid room. Can't wait to hear about all your adventures!

 

[mamamary]

following along

 

[rdkeim]

Following! My sister and I are doing a Sisters Trip in March so it will be fun to read about your trip.

 

[Trixie15]

I always wanted a sister! Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[farrellbarrel]

Great pictures, I'm so happy that you and your sister got to go on this trip together! I hope my two sisters and I can do this one day

 

[disneyaddicted]

Following along
I would love to take a trip to WDW with my sister!!

It was the best trip ever and I know it's because I had my sister with me to share all the great things

Following too. Love the idea of touring WDW with my sister!

Yea, we definitely plan to do another sisters trip in the future, maybe in 5 years

Joining in! What a fun way to do Disney, with your sister!

I'm loving your report so far.

That gigantic tea from Starbucks looks SO GOOD!

I'm glad you are liking the PTR, I'm updating again tonight.
The Starbucks tea became a daily routine, sometimes twice a day.

Hello,
I've been a lurker for years and have decided i should join in and start posting. I love your trip report so far, I can't wait to hear more!!! I have always wanted to hear more about staying in a Little Mermaid room. Can't wait to hear about all your adventures!

Thank you for posting, I love to hear feedback. The Little Mermaid room was amazing, I totally recommend staying there at least once.

following along

Thanks for joining me.

Following! My sister and I are doing a Sisters Trip in March so it will be fun to read about your trip.

I hope you and your sister have the best trip ever and get covered with magical pixie dust.

I always wanted a sister! Sounds like a fun trip!

It's funny how as kids we would argue and my mom would tell us that one day we would appreciate each other, I always scoffed at that but my sister Bo is truly my best friend ever.

Great pictures, I'm so happy that you and your sister got to go on this trip together! I hope my two sisters and I can do this one day

I took about 800 pictures, Bo took over 2000, plus we have the memory maker pictures, so there's ton to post. I hope you and your sisters get to do a trip together too.