**NEW 3/8! "We're The Original Boy Band, With Songs We Never Sing" A February 2013 TR

[StitchsGurl]

Welcome one and all to my very first trip report!!!!

That's me, your ghost host, skipper, snake wrangler, crocodile hunter, and most importantly, your guide, Dayna. I'm 21 years old, and according to my Twitter description, I'm a former WDW cast member and forever Disney fanatic. And that sure sums me up in a nutshell. I've been going to WDW ever since I was three years old - and I'll be going until I'm 90 years old, believe me. Since I'm not very well known on the Dis, I'll highlight some of my favorites.

Favorite Attraction: Expedition Everest
Favorite Character(s): Stitch, Belle, The Beast, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider and Gaston
Favorite Quick Service: Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe
Favorite Table Service: A three way tie between Be Our Guest, 'Ohana and California Grill
Favorite Show: Festival of the Lion King
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Snack: Dole Whip or a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar
Favorite Resort(s): A three way tie between The Contemporary, The Polynesian and Port Orleans French Quarter

This trip was short, we only stayed two nights, but it was exceptionally magical, but what else would you expect? We stayed at The Contemporary, in a theme park view room, and it was absolutely fantastic. We were lucky enough to be in a renovated room, and that was amazing in itself. It was also, in my opinion, one of the best Limited Time Magic offerings, while we were there. I was SO excited, and I hope I can describe the experience so that all of you can feel the excitement that I felt.

My partner in crime for this trip (and all trips!) was my Mom, Tracey. I don't have any pictures of her currently, but just imagine, okay?

I'm going to be taking inspiration from some of my personal favorite trip report writers, so I hope you don't mind if I use your TR strategies to make my TR. (I'm looking at you Jess: Disneyfreak508, Kristen: Disneyfreak616, Dani: danimaroo, Marissa: marDgreen88, Lia: __disneygirl and Katt: katt789)

So, if everyone is all neat and pretty, then on with the show!~

Coming Up: Day One - "Are We There Yet?" ​

 

[danimaroo]

I am most definitely here!! I loved your intro and also, thanks for the shout out lady!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Theme park view sounds unreal, I am so excited to see pictures of it!

So glad you're starting a TR!

 

[sarahhhmarie27]

Being a former Jungle Cruise Skipper I love your introduction! I still have to write my first trip report I am nervous to write because Im not sure how to exactly yet!

 

[cheekypoppins]

OMG tracey as in CAA tracey???? I love her she's the best!!!!

 

[LifeIsDis]

Joining in!!!

(and I'm LifeDis on Twitter aka the one who loves stuffed animals and is crazy )

 

[StitchsGurl]

I am most definitely here!! I loved your intro and also, thanks for the shout out lady!! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Theme park view sounds unreal, I am so excited to see pictures of it!

So glad you're starting a TR!

Thanks Dani, I am SO glad you're here! And you are more than welcome for the shout out, I mean it! For us only being there for two nights, I took close to 500 pictures!

Being a former Jungle Cruise Skipper I love your introduction! I still have to write my first trip report I am nervous to write because Im not sure how to exactly yet!

I'm SO jealous you were a Jungle Cruise Skipper - that's one of my ultimate dream jobs!!! I'm glad you're here, and hopefully you can get some inspiration from my first trip report for yours!

OMG tracey as in CAA tracey???? I love her she's the best!!!!

Yep, she's CAA Tracey! Thanks for joining in!

Joining in!!!

(and I'm LifeDis on Twitter aka the one who loves stuffed animals and is crazy )

Haha, welcome aboard, it's great to have you along for the ride!

P.S Your not crazy at all!

 

[cheekypoppins]

Awe yay I'm definitely joining in on this report, Your mom has booked almost every one of my trips as an adult( my oldest daughter was a baby when,she booked the first one.....shes now 10)Everytime she moved locations I followed her to the new one,she knows my family really well and infact on one of our trips my mom and i went to the Canada pavillion to bring you something but you weren't there.My mom wanted to bring something for "traceys daughter" since tracey had been so good to us all.Please Tell her hello from Carrie,Riley and Hailey.I'm really pumped to hear about your trip.

 

[maggiemoos]

Joining I loved reading about your trip on twitter!!

 

[StitchsGurl]

Awe yay I'm definitely joining in on this report, Your mom has booked almost every one of my trips as an adult( my oldest daughter was a baby when,she booked the first one.....shes now 10)Everytime she moved locations I followed her to the new one,she knows my family really well and infact on one of our trips my mom and i went to the Canada pavillion to bring you something but you weren't there.My mom wanted to bring something for "traceys daughter" since tracey had been so good to us all.Please Tell her hello from Carrie,Riley and Hailey.I'm really pumped to hear about your trip.

And she says hello right back!~ Aww, how sweet! I always seemed to miss my Mom's clients, or they'd go to Merchandise, where a "Dana" was working, and think it was me. I'm so glad my Mom's been a big part of your Disney vacations - that makes me happy to hear!

Joining I loved reading about your trip on twitter!!

Thank you so very much, and welcome aboard!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hi Dayna, I'm in too. Congratulations on your very first trip report. I can't wait to hear more. You've definitely picked some wonderful reporters to borrow strategies from for sure.

 

[StitchsGurl]

Hi Dayna, I'm in too. Congratulations on your very first trip report. I can't wait to hear more. You've definitely picked some wonderful reporters to borrow strategies from for sure.

Thank you so much Rob! And welcome aboard, it's great to have you along~

Day 1 Part 1: In Which The Phrase "Are We There Yet? " Only Comes Out Of My Mouth Once.

I must forewarn you, this update is going to be boring and lacking pictures.

This is the backstory, the drive from Redington Shores to Orlando, but it's not like I rode my magic carpet from Redington Shores to Orlando, okay? We drove, so I'll fill you in.

A bit of a backstory before we get to the backstory. And cue the rolling eyes. No, but it's important you learn the backstory. Every year since 2001 (give or take), my Grandma has been renting a condo in Redington Shores, and every year, she's been asking us to go, and every year we decline. Well, last year, we finally decided to go, and it was actually a really great time! This year, we decided to go again, and yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was a great time! For those who don't know my Mom and I, if we're that close to Orlando, you KNOW we're going to Disney, even if just for a couple days.

And there's the backstory. Continuing on with our other backstory, at approximatley 12:50 or so, my Mom and I left the condo with our suitcases, and began the 2 hour drive to Orlando. We listened to music (not Disney music, I know, shame on me. ) and talked about our Disney plans. On our way, we passed Dinoland (womp womp), Legoland (I'll pass) and Busch Gardens (thanks, but no thanks.) Before we knew it, we were on our way to ... The Orlando Premium Outlets! Tricked ya, didn't I? It's our tradition to go to the outlets everytime we go to WDW, and this trip was no exception. We arrived at the outlets, and drove around for literally 25 minutes looking for a parking spot. IT'S A TUESDAY AFTERNOON PEOPLE, WHAT IS THIS? These outlets are ALWAYS so busy, no matter what day of the week it is. So finally after finding a parking spot (one that was too small) we made our way towards the outlets, and made our way to our favorite spot - The Disney Outlet! And to get to the outlet, we had to pass through the food court, which was PACKED. I mean, it was ridiculous. I had a feeling we wouldn't be here for that long and we could go check into our hotel!!!! I'm pretty sure I got my foot ran over twice by a stroller, someone slammed the door in my face, and got the evil eye by some very hungry tourists. Nevertheless, we made it to our destination in one piece, but then we opened the door. WALL TO WALL PEOPLE. And no, it's not as nice as wall to wall creeps, trust me. (If you get the reference, you win at life.) We braved the crowds, and my elbows were out and ready to knock anyone over who didn't move. Just kidding, but I felt like I couldn't move myself, so my elbows were pointless to use. We looked around for 10 minutes, and then booked it out of the outlets. We had enough. We didn't find anything, and it was crammed, so we headed back towards the car and jumped in. THE CONTEMPORARY, HERE WE COME!!!!!

We drove. And drove. And drove. And then finally, the miraculous moment came when we were driving under the glorious sign. You know which one I'm talking about:

*cue the heavenly angelic voices*

And I lied. There's one picture in this update. Pardon me.

I literally feel like every worry, every bad thought, every negative feeling is washed away after I go underneath that sign. Anyone else feel the same way?

Mom and I both looked at each other, squealed, and continued on our merry way. Pretty soon we were passing underneath another favorite sign of mine. Drumroll please:

Oops. Second picture. And you thought I wouldn't have any pictures in my update. I'm pretty sure my nose is growing by the second.

Yes! I love passing underneath this sign as well - it signifies that I'm truly "home."

I let the gentlemen know at the gate that we were checking into The Contemporary, and he waved us goodbye with the biggest smile of life. This is when it really hit me that we were here.

We drove to the Contemporary, and pulled up to yet another gate. There was an older gentleman there - actually, we've seen him many times during our trip to the Contemporay. He's SO sweet! He asked a few questions, and sent us on our merry way with a happy "Welcome Home!" We pulled into the parking lot (and no, we didn't drive around for 20 minutes looking for a spot - sound familiar?)

We got the suitcases, and rolled them towards the entrance, basking in the beauty of the resort, and also the beauty of hearing the train from across the street. When we arrived at the entrance, a young man was standing there, and he said "Welcome Home" to us, and used our last name, and then led us to the front desk to check in. My heart was literally racing at this point.


And that's where I stop. What happens next? Will our room request be granted, or will the pixie dust not start just yet?

Will Woody and Bullseye get to Jessie and the Prospector in time? Join us next time for the finale of Woody's Roundup!

Just kidding. Join me for the next update where all of these questions, and more, will be answered. And then I promise, more than just two pictures will be in the update.

Coming Up: Day One Part Two: Checking In and Our Room! ​

 

[StitchsGurl]

Day 1 Part 2: In Which It's Only Day One And The Pixie Dust Has Already Started

So, when we left off, we were just finding out whether Woody and Bullseye had made it to the Prospecter and Jessie in time.

Unfortunately, the show never made it past this episode, so I can't tell you for sure.

But I can tell you that this is where the pictures will start coming in, so get yourselves ready!

I left off with my Mom and I getting ready to check in. We had a wonderful CM checking us in (whose name escapes me right now, of course.) She welcomed us home, took some information, and within 10 minutes, we were all ready to go to our room! We requested to be away from Chef Mickey's (if you've ever stayed at The Contemporary, you know what I'm talking about. 7:00 in the morning and the WOOHOOS, singing and screaming begins. Not that I sleep in at Disney or anything, but it's a tad bit annoying.) She said we were on the opposite side of the restaurant (thank you!!! ) and sent us on our way.

We thanked her profusely, and headed off to our room! We jumped in the elevator, and here we come 11th floor! We made our way out of the elevator, down the hallway, and to room 4746. We put the key to the door, and, once again cue the angels singing, we saw the beautiful room. And here's where the pixie dust begins: we were in a renovated room!!!!

We were SO happy - the new rooms look fabulous, everything matches so well together, and we were just so thankful to have the opportunity to see the new rooms.

Here are some pictures I took of the new rooms:

All of the little details were amazing, from Mickey Mouse on the pillow, to the Mickey Mouse shower curtain, it was all incredible!~

But nothing could beat what was outside our window. If you didn't guess, it's THE MAGIC KINGDOM!!!! And here's our gorgeous view:

Hello gorgeous.

After going crazy over the view and the room, we decided to head towards our next destination. Can you guess where we went?

You'll just have to wait and find out in the next update! Stay tuned!

Coming Up: Souvenir Shopping, Resort Hopping and Dole Whipping, Oh My! ​

 

[katt789]

I opened your TR because I loved the title, and was there that week, only to be all “She was reading mine a while back!” to then see the shout out! AH! Thank you! It’s an honour to be up there with Jess and Kristen!! Haha!

I’m here to read along! Also, we have so many favorites the same!! Yay!

Man, the advantage of driving yourself is getting awesome pics of the sign as you drive under it, you just can’t do that on the ME! Ugh, I love it when the CM’s say “welcome home” it really is home, like, it’s one of those places that I get homesick for when I’m in Calgary baha!

Those rooms look amazing! I didn’t know they were re doing them, I can’t lie, the Contemporary never really has that much of a pull for me, minus the theme park view at Bay Lake Towers *sigh*. Love the Mickey pillows!

I’m gonna guess you guys took off to Magic Kingdom! Super excited to read more!! Yay!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Joining in! OMG those pillows are so cute! They need to sell those.

WOW, what an awesome view! I am hoping our view is that great over at Bay Lake Tower! I seriously can't wait to stay there!

 

[beachphotog]

I am here from twitter, just like I said! I love that you went for two days, because Hello, how can you be that close to Disney and not go?! I stayed I the contemporary in 2011 and my room didn't look like that! When did they rehab the rooms? I stayed on the fourth floor as, well, but on the other side of the hall!

Are you going to Contempo Cafe?!

 

[StitchsGurl]

I opened your TR because I loved the title, and was there that week, only to be all She was reading mine a while back! to then see the shout out! AH! Thank you! Its an honour to be up there with Jess and Kristen!! Haha!

Im here to read along! Also, we have so many favorites the same!! Yay!

Man, the advantage of driving yourself is getting awesome pics of the sign as you drive under it, you just cant do that on the ME! Ugh, I love it when the CMs say welcome home it really is home, like, its one of those places that I get homesick for when Im in Calgary baha!

Those rooms look amazing! I didnt know they were re doing them, I cant lie, the Contemporary never really has that much of a pull for me, minus the theme park view at Bay Lake Towers *sigh*. Love the Mickey pillows!

Im gonna guess you guys took off to Magic Kingdom! Super excited to read more!! Yay!

Yay welcome aboard, Katt! I'm really glad you decided to jump in and join!

I'm glad you loved the title - I thought it was only appropriate, seeing as how they did sing that before their boy band medley.

And yes, we do have a TON of the same favorites. FESTIVAL OF THE LION KING FTW~

It WOULD have been awesome to get a picture of the sign this time (that picture I provided, my Dad took last year) but my camera was hiding out LOL.

Hahaha whenever I stay at a hotel, I get a bit sad when the employees don't say "Welcome Home" to me, not going to lie.

We didn't know they were re-doing the rooms either until we walked in, so it was quite a surprise to us as well. A nice surprise, though, for sure.

Your guess, very very unfortunatley, didn't come true until the next day, so you'll just have to stay tuned and find out!~

Joining in! OMG those pillows are so cute! They need to sell those.

WOW, what an awesome view! I am hoping our view is that great over at Bay Lake Tower! I seriously can't wait to stay there!

And welcome aboard!~ It's so nice you joined in!

I KNOW! The pillows are the most adorable things ever ... I was like to my Mom: "I wonder if they'd notice if that one just sort of somehow ended up in my suitcase going home? Like how'd that get there?" But yes, I agree 100% that they need to sell them!!

I hope the view will be just as beautiful at BLT! In fact, I'm SURE it will be!

I am here from twitter, just like I said! I love that you went for two days, because Hello, how can you be that close to Disney and not go?! I stayed I the contemporary in 2011 and my room didn't look like that! When did they rehab the rooms? I stayed on the fourth floor as, well, but on the other side of the hall!

Are you going to Contempo Cafe?!

And welcome to the trip report! Thank you for joining!

Hahaha, that's EXACTLY how we told my Dad, who's not much of a Disney fan. If I'm two hours from Disney, I'm going. And yes, maybe I did stomp my foot, once or twice.

I'm going to assume they started rehab on the rooms late last year, maybe? I haven't stayed at The Contemporary since March last year, so I actually haven't a clue. As I said, it was such a surprise to us as well!

And, you are TOTALLY right on your guess of Contempo Cafe! Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

Day One Part Three: In Which Our Night Involves Souvenir Shopping, Resort Hopping And Dole Whipping

So by this time, our stomachs were growling, in dire need of some food. Naturally, we headed down to the fourth floor, straight to one of my favorite places on property, The Contempo Cafe.

Mom got a flatbread cheese pizza, and I had a chicken ceasar salad. I actually love the salads here - I prefer the breadcrumbs on top, rather than the traditional crutons. It gives it a different flavor, and it makes me happy, so it's the best of both worlds.

We decided to take our food upstairs and sit on the balcony and just stare at the castle. Plans changed when I noticed the chairs out on the balcony were all wet, so we stayed inside, but still stared at the castle. Thank goodness for the huge glass doors.

I took no food pictures, I'm sorry, I suck, I know.

After we ate, we finally decided to get going. But not without a stop at the gift shop downstairs. Backstory time.

Last time we were at Disney, which was in December, I saw the most beautiful Disney pillow ever. It was brown/beige-ish in color, and on one side it said Be Our Guest, and on the other said it was black and said Tale as old as time on it. I found it late one night in the New Fantasyland, but figured I didn't want to carry it out with me, I'd just pick it up the next day.

Well, the next day was our final day, and we went to check on the pillows so I could pick one up ... and lo, and behold, they were all gone. I was so disappointed, as I really loved that pillow. I should have bought it when I saw it.

Fast forward to this trip: my goal was to find that pillow. And you know what? I ... FOUND IT!!!! And, funny thing, it was literally in every shop we went into. But I bought it this first night, to avoid having the same disappointment happen again.

And this is what it looks like:

(Image courtesy of http://www.allears.net)

So, this was the first, of many purchases, of the night. But I was extremely thrilled to finally have the pillow. I was actually breathing such a sigh of relief that night.

After I got exactly what I wanted, we headed towards the monorail. It was time for some resort hopping!!!


Shortly after we headed up the escalator, a monorail had arrived. And away we went!

We went past the TTC, and ended up at our second favourite resort, The Polynesian.

I just LOVE the smell of the Polynesian, I could literally just sit in the lobby and not move for 8 hours. Someone can also bottle that smell up, please and thanks.

We didn't linger around the upstairs shop too long after getting off the monorail, as we had yet another destination in mind. Can you guess?





If you said GETTING A DOLE WHIP, then you're absolutely correct.

Let me make something very clear: I hate pineapple. I despise it. But, the Dole Whip that we had this night was the PERFECT blend of vanilla and pineapple, and I actually loved it. I've always loved the orange and vanilla over the original Dole Whip, but this trip changed it for me. I will now always get the original. And I still hate pineapple, fyi.

ANYWAYS. I love that at the Polynesian, they have their own Dole Whip machine. WHERE CAN I GET ONE AND CAN I PUT IT IN MY ROOM PLEASE? And, they give you a small cup, but since you fill it up yourself, you can overflow it as much as you'd like.

Exhibit A:

OVERFLOW!!!!

It was absolutely delicious, and creamy and perfect and flawless and I really want one right now.

We sat outside of Captain Cook's, and watched as a bird tried to steal a little girl's french fries. She kept saying "No" but the bird clearly has no understanding of the meaning of the word no. He wouldn't leave her alone. Thank goodness he didn't bother us. I would have been furious.

After about 25 minutes, we headed inside towards our next destination: The Bou-Tiki! I love this shop, and I had a particular shirt in mind that I wanted to purchase. I saw it last time (and refer to backstory) and didn't buy it, so this time it was a must!

We started looking around, and then it immediatly caught my eye. I tried it on, fell in love, we got married, and ... no, just kidding. But I did fall in love with it, though, and I DID buy it. I know better now.

Here's the shirt:

PERFECTION AT ITS FINEST.

After I was successful at finding two things I really wanted, we said Aloha and Mahalo to the Polynesian, and made our way to our next stop.

AND WE'RE OFF!!!!!

Our next stop was, of course, The Grand Floridian. I LOVE this resort as well, I think it's so classic, elegant and timeless. And beautiful.

We just started wandering around, not really looking for anything in particular, looking in some of the shops, and then I heard the most spectacular thing.

THEY WERE PLAYING BEAUTY AND THE BEAST AND I SEE THE LIGHT IN THE GRAND FLORIDIAN LOBBY. And I almost died. It was spectacular. It literally gave me chills.

After flailing in the store (no I really did flail though!), my Mom and I just wandered around outside, and stumbled upon the new pool feature, The Mad Hatter's hat, which I thought was super cute. It fills up with water, and then when it's overflowing, it spills out and dumps water right over your head!

And I missed it every.single.time it was tipping over. What gives?

So, once we were finished, we headed back inside, and out towards the monorail.

We made it to the Magic Kingdom station, and yes I almost did want to run right out the doors and into the park, but I knew we'd be there in the morning.

We sadly waved goodbye to The Magic Kingdom, and we were on our way back "home"

We headed down on the escalator (where a young child was literally right on my rear end - I guess he didn't realize you don't have to stand so close. His father said "Move back" and the kid was like "Nah, I'm good" Umm, but I'm not good. Haha.)

Up to the room we went, with purchases in hand. We watched the new castle projection show (which I CANNOT wait to see in person, not from the 11th floor) and we watched Wishes. I cried, typical.

We called it an early night as we had a magical place to visit in the morning.

Coming Up: The Original Boy Band Sings Songs They Never Sing ​

 

[cheekypoppins]

Awe omg Dayna I love it!!! This is gonna be the most exciting Tr ever for me because it has someone in it I know I love that!!!i can't wait to hear more n it seems you are a big fan of Beauty n the Beast so am I it's my fave Disney movie ever!!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Dayna, you're making me jealous. My dream resort to stay in is The Contemporary. When I went as a kid with my parents, we always went there. Of course, we never stayed there, but we always went there so it'll always be a special place to me.

 

[katt789]

Aw man, so close with the guessing, I keep forgetting about dole whips at the poly! Nice resort hopping on the first night though!! What were your travel dates??

 

[beachphotog]

Dole whips are my fave!! And cute merchandise!