This is your birthday song, it isn't very long...... June trip report!!

[jasmine91]

We just returned from our 8th trip to the World together and had a BLAST! This, however, is my first trip report and I am super excited to relive the magic and share it with all of you! So, let me start by introducing the cast:

My name is Jessica and I just turned 27 on Friday and was able to celebrate at the happiest place on Earth! I am a 6th grade teacher and I REALLY love my job! I am very fortunate because I know not many people can say that! My summer vacation has already gotten off to a great start! I finally got to meet Daisy - she is my favorite! I think she is so cute and sassy! My husband and I took our first WDW trip together 8 years ago,before we were married, and since then it has been our favorite place to visit! We have been going every year since! It is truly the place to go to escape reality and turn into a kid all over again!

This is my DH, A.J. Believe it or not, he is 30 years old! It is funny, we signed up to do the segway and the cast member asked him if he was 18 I am so jealous! He loves Disney just as much as I do! He plans out each day in excel months before the trip and then changes it and changes it again as we switch up our ADRs. I think he actually enjoys having to do it over! I don't think he had Captain EO on our schedule to do twice, but since he loved it so much we fit it in! He surprised me with our first trip after we had dated for about 2 years and we had such a wonderful time that he has been hooked ever since!

And so our journey begins..... 7 nights and 8 days at AKL, Kidani Village.

Saturday Morning, 4:30 - wake up and head to DFW airport. Take a quick picture before getting inside to go through security.

Thankfully, DH conviced me to pack lightly and fit everything into one carry on suitcase each. I thought it was impossible, but I made it work! DH checked in online before we left, so all we had to was go through security and then had plenty of time for breakfast.

I had a cappuccino from Starbucks and a chocolate croissant. I knew I was going to have a few of these in WDW, but I was excited to get started early.You will notice that I LOVE these things and eat them any chance I have!

DH had a cinnamon raisin pretzel and water from Auntie Annies. He was not too impressed. Then we boarded the plane and off we were!
Before we knew it, we were on the Magical Express and saw the sign that makes us all giddy inside!

We were anxious to see our hotel, drop our stuff off and head to Epcot for lunch, and in the process we forgot to take a picture of the resort as we arrived! But, here is picture of the inside of our room. It was really nice and the bathrooms were amazing for Disney bathrooms. We are used to staying at moderate resorts with pretty small bathrooms and this one was fabulous!

And here is a picture of our view.

 

[heaven2dc]

I'm in (and #1) You are an adorable couple and belated Happy Birthday!! Loved the pic of your room and your view I would love to stay at AKL on our next trip.

 

[jasmine91]

So glad you have joined! We loved AKL! It was really nice. It did bother me a little that it was so far away from all of the parks. The bus rides were pretty long and very crowded. We had to stand the majority of the time which was annoying after a long day at the parks. But, really, that is my only complaint! Everything else was wonderful!

 

[jasmine91]

As we walked to the bus stop for the first time to head to Epcot we overheard two little girls' conversation and it was the best way to start the trip EVER! They were dressed up as Princesses and said "This is the best vacation ever!" and then the other one replied "I know! We get to go to the parks and dress up and look pretty!" It was so cute! We did not have to wait long at all before we headed to EPCOT.

At the bus stop

Finally arrive at EPCOT!!!
We were starving at this point and knew exactly what we wanted for lunch.... Tangerine Cafe in Morocco! It is one of our faves! You will notice that we were not on the dining plan this time. We rented DVC points and ended up getting a better deal than doing free dining. So, we shared multiple QS meals each day and ate at about 5 TS meals throughout the trip. We love to eat, so the more often.... the better
We ordered the lamb shwarma platter. I thought it was delicious, but DH wished we would have gotten the wrap because the bread was a little stale. The lamb was so tender and the hummus and tabouli was great!

I decided I wanted to get more photos with characters and princesses this trip, so on the way back to future world we stopped so I could get a picture with Belle. Unfortunately, DH hates taking pictures with characters... it is like pulling teeth to get him to take one. But..... I convinced him to take a few as you will see!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Jessica! I'm joining in!

Starting your trip with a Starbucks is the best way to begin! Love the pics of AKL and Epcot.

Happy belated birthday - hope you had a good one!

 

[jasmine91]

Hi Jessica! I'm joining in!

Starting your trip with a Starbucks is the best way to begin! Love the pics of AKL and Epcot.

Happy belated birthday - hope you had a good one!

Thanks so much! I see you are going to WDW for your first time in a few months! I am so excited for you! Where are you staying?

 

[jasmine91]

We did not realize some of the plants from the Flower and Garden Festival would still be there, so we took a picture in front of the entrance of world showcase with the Cars characters. It was pretty cool!

One of DH's favorite rides is Living with the Land. He thinks it is very relaxing and likes that it is educational. So, we went to grab a fastpass for Soarin' (of course!) and then hopped on the boat for Living with the Land. There was no line at all - which is what we kind of expected. However, later in the trip we came back to the Land, and the line was INSANELY long! We had never seen that ride so busy! It made DH pretty happy!

I was pretty skeptical about the Captain EO show that replaced Honey I Shrunk the Audience because of all the negative reviews I had read on disboards. But, since it was one of the few things we hadn't done at the parks we decided to give it a try. We are both huge Michael Jackson fans, so we figured even if it was bad, we would enjoy listening to him sing and watching him dance!

We ended up really liking this show! I thought it might be a little too scary for kids though, because of how loud and dark it was! But, we actually ended up watching it again later on by DH's request! And..... on the plane coming back he found the song from the show "Another Part of Me" off the BAD album and listened to it over and over again! He is so cute!
You know how it is - pretty depressing to get back home from a WDW trip, but as soon as we were in our car again and back to reality, he surprised me by playing the song and it lifted our spirits!
Now, I don't know if it is because I am a teacher, or just a really cheesy person.... but I love Figment and the Journey to Imagination ride! There is something about this ride that makes me all warm and fuzzy! I especially love the quote from the song "One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." I think this is SO true! SO, we HAVE to do this ride at least once on each trip!

I was kind of disappointed that they had changed the activities after the ride from creating a picture to email to creating your own figment.... we always liked creating a funny picture and then sending it to family. Oh Well!

So, our trip was June 4-11 and my b-day is June 10th. However, DH thought I should get a birthday pin to wear all week long because it was my birthday trip... I wasn't sure about it, but we made our way to guest relations to pick up a pin and on the way we met this little rascal!

And.... this this is where we also met Daisy We caught them both before the lines got long, otherwise DH would have not been fond of the idea of waiting in lines for pictures with characters! He thinks it is a waste of time for people our age
After we got the pin I decided to put it on, but I felt a little funny about it. You will find out later why DH insisted I wear it this day... he is so sweet!

We took these pictures right as we were getting in line for Spaceship Earth. I think this ride is soooo cool, especially with the recent addition at the end! We always take pictures because we love it!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Thanks so much! I see you are going to WDW for your first time in a few months! I am so excited for you! Where are you staying?

Thank you for being excited for me!! I can't wait! We will be staying at Pop Century!

Yay on the F&G festival still being on display!

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed Captain EO! After reading so many negative reviews it's refreshing to find someone who enjoyed it! I think having grown up with MJs music I should enjoy it but we shall see.

Love the photo of you with Stitch!

 

[Disneychix]

Happy Belated Birthday!! I have June 10th Birthday also

I have to say, that picture of you and Stitch is the CUTEST!! You need that as your avatar!

Can't wait for more...

 

[jasmine91]

Thank you for being excited for me!! I can't wait! We will be staying at Pop Century!

Yay on the F&G festival still being on display!

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed Captain EO! After reading so many negative reviews it's refreshing to find someone who enjoyed it! I think having grown up with MJs music I should enjoy it but we shall see.

Love the photo of you with Stitch!

Duh - I should have looked at your clicker to see where you were staying! We have never stayed at Pop, but have heard great things about it! We have talked about staying there next time. We did visit it once and the lobby and common areas were really nice! I am sure you will love it!

 

[jasmine91]

Happy Belated Birthday!! I have June 10th Birthday also

I have to say, that picture of you and Stitch is the CUTEST!! You need that as your avatar!

Can't wait for more...

Thanks! He grabbed and hugged me so tightly that I couldn't help but laugh and DH got it on camera! Some of the characters just stand there, but Stitch was a pretty fun guy.... or girl

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining!

You guys are too cute. Very impressive that you were able to pack for that long of a trip in a carry on.

 

[jasmine91]

We made our way through world showcase starting with Mexico. We noticed there are two new restaurants in Mexico. Does anyone have any reviews on these? We did not eat at either. We are from Texas, so good Mexican food is pretty easy to get around here. We then went to GB to watch the band... I don't remember their name (something hats????). DH is a drummer in a cover band, so he had to see them. We stayed for a few songs, then continued.

And then something really exciting happened! Remember when I told you that DH HATES taking pictures with characters??? Well, I convinced him to take one with Mary Poppins and he reluctantly agreed. He loved her! He thought she was very much "in character" and got a kick out of her asking him if he traveled from Dallas to Disney by umbrella I snapped two pics because I knew this would not happen again!

After this, we hurried to Japan to see the candy artist! She was amazing and worked so fast! The audience just called out animals they wanted her to make and she turned a blob of hot candy into whatever animal was requested! It was really cool!

We were getting hungry again after splitting lunch, so we shared some shrimp udon in Japan at Yakitori House. This ended up being one of our top counter service meals. The broth was delicious and it was very filling!

After dinner we went to see the American Adventure show and the CM noticed my b-day pin and told me that someone had just called for named Jessica. He told me to pick up the phone in the waiting area, and whatya know..... Goofy was on the line singing happy birthday!

After this we rode Soarin', which was amazing as always!

Then shared a second dinner in China. We got orange chicken and I also ordered a strawberry oolong tea slush from the Joy of Tea stand. I had heard good things about this drink, but it was just too sweet for me!

The chicken was good - nothing too special about it, but we did eat all of it with no complaints.
We walked around for a little while longer and then decided to beat the crowd and not stay for Illuminations. We were pretty tired from waking up so early, so we headed back to the hotel. We were oooing and ahhhing over the lobby decorations.

Now, before I get to the next picture I have to explain.... I love looking at the cake threads on disboards, and about two weeks before our trip I mentioned to DH that on one of our next trips I wanted to get a cake to celebrate something because it looked like fun. He just kind of rolled his eyes like "what doesn't this girl want??" Now, DH is pretty frugal, and his mom is an EXCELLENT baker and we always get our good desserts from her, so when I mentioned it I never thought it would really happen. Well, apparently he listened because when we got to the room this was waiting for me

It was sooooo sweet! So, we celebrated by wearing the hats and singing happy birthday and having a slice of cake....

now, I am sure you are all thinking - "But, it wasn't even your birthday!" I know, I know! You have to know DH to understand... he gets depressed at the end of vacations, so to celebrate my b-day on the 10th, the night before we left, would have been too hard for him, so he decided to start the trip with a bang! And, let me tell you, it was a great way to start the trip! It all started to make sense of why he wanted me to get my b-day pin on the first day!
If you are wondering how the cake was, it was great! The icing was super sweet, but the cake was delicious and the fudge frosting on the edge was great too!

Tomorrow - Boma breakfast and AK!

 

[jasmine91]

I'm joining!

You guys are too cute. Very impressive that you were able to pack for that long of a trip in a carry on.

I thought it was going to be more difficult than it actually was. With summer clothes, it really wasn't too hard. The worst part was coming back with souvenirs!

 

[MelMel11]

Count Me In!!!

 

[Disneychix]

That cake looks delicious!! Which bakery did he get it from? Smart thinking to do it earlier in the vacation because that way you got to eat cake everyday!

 

[jasmine91]

He ordered it from the Disney celebration hotline. He said he ended up being transferred to the AKL bakery, so I am not sure if each hotel has a bakery.

 

[jasmine91]

We started our second day with Breakfast at Boma. We had done Boma on a previous trip for dinner and I LOVED it! DH thought it was pretty good, but not worth the money when you are not on free dining. So... since breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, I convinced him to take me since it was cheaper than dinner. I took a few pictures of the buffet.

Sorry I did not get any pics of the eggs and meat! We thought all of it was great, though! Their chive and goat cheese scrambled eggs were to die for!!! I had two or three helpings! I am never a big fan of pictures of plates of food from buffets, but I will post them anyway. It never looks nearly as appetizing as when the kitchen plates and presents your meal
This is DH's plate of waffle, corned beef, pineapple and stewed tomato

DH plate of corned beef again (he liked this!) french toast (he also thought this was really good) fruit and potatoes.

My plate of chive and goat cheese eggs , ham, corned beef hash, bacon and some other casserole thing that I was not too crazy about.

My second plate pic did not turn out very well. But, I mentioned to you earlier that I love chocolate croissants, so I got one for my second helping. It was one of the best things I have ever tasted in my life! It was not your usual croissant - much flatter and the texture was not as flaky. But, I can not even explain to you how delicious it was... my mouth is watering just thinking about it! So, I had to go up and get another and savor every last bite!

We stuffed ourselves to the max and then headed to AK for the opening ceremony and made it just in time!

 

[cherrybellecupcake]

Loving the TR! I've always wanted to stay at AKL and hope to do so still someday.

Btw, you two are the CUTEST couple ever.

 

[IheartDDuck]

I love breakfast and I love Boma.

Man, you are just killing me with the buffet pictures!

I cannot resist the chocolate croissants at WDW. They are my favorite.