Who Needs Self Control At Disney??? - A Slightly Solo Feb 2016 Trip Report COMPLETED 4/24

[Carathryn]

TRIP REPORT INTRODUCTION​

Hello everyone and welcome to my first WDW trip report! I am relatively new to posting on the boards but have been reading along for a while now. I wrote a TR for my Disneyland trip in January 2016 and am very excited to get back to writing and picture uploading. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to bring some enjoyment and maybe even some valuable information in this report. Look forward to a billion photos pictures of me, plenty of food pictures, and more Poly pictures than you probably thought was possible!

So let's start off with the basic, slightly boring trip stats.
What: A trip to WDW and surrounding areas
When: February 24-29, 2016
Where: 2 nights All Star Sports, 2 nights Rosen Centre (offsite), 1 night Poly
Who: Me (Cara) with special appearances by my mom
Why: Does anyone need a reason why to go to DisneyWorld?

I wrote a mini pre trip report but since I started planning really late and was busy wrapping up my DL trip report, it is not a very valuable PTR. Also, a lot of plans changed so I will give a brief introduction here. Feel free to skip if you don't want to know my whole life story and how this trip came to be.

PERSONAL INTRODUCTIONS​

Me- My name is Cara, I am a 22 year old college student who like many on this board loves Disney way more than the average person.

MNSSHP 2015


Me and my favorite monster​

Here are some of my favorites:
Favorite Disney movies- Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Monsters Inc
Favorite Princess- Belle, followed closely by Ariel and Rapunzel
Favorite character (non princess)- James P. Sullivan
Favorite Disney parks- Disneyland, Animal Kingdom
Favorite Disney rides- Pirates of the Caribbean (DL version), Expedition Everest, Voyage of the Little Mermaid


Along for part of the ride is my Disney enabler, my mother. This is our 3rd time going to WDW together and we have also enjoyed many DLR trips over the last several years.

Our very first trip to DL which started our annual park visits


Our previous trip was October 2015


And here is my mom enjoying her all time favorite Disney treat in January 2016 at DL.​

Here are some of her Disney favorites.
Favorite Disney movies- Frozen, Monsters Inc.
Favorite Princess- Snow White
Favorite character (non princess)- Goofy
Favorite Disney parks- Magic Kingdom
Favorite Disney rides- Tower of Terror

HOW THIS TRIP CAME TO BE​

My mom is in the Air Force and was invited to help with a conference in Orlando February 26-28. She invited me down since she had a free hotel room and we decided to add on a night at Disney. Originally I was planning on relaxing, doing some resort hopping, and not doing my normal rushing around all over the place Disney vacation. Let's just say this plan quickly morphed into two extra nights at All Star Sports (I refuse to use the acronym for this resort) because flights were cheaper. Well with a full extra day staying on property how could I not visit a park? So then I bought a one day ticket to Magic Kingdom. Let's just say I ended up with more than one park day but I will share all about that later on. We also got a fantastic military rate on a theme park view club level room so this went from a quick, inexpensive trip, to a self indulgent, dream vacation ending with a magical first stay at my absolute favorite Disney resort. So without further ado, lets get started!

 

[Carathryn]

Day 1 - Part 1: Airport Impatience
I will start with the getting to Disney part, even though it isn't always the most exciting part of a trip to read about, but the joy of finally getting to Florida and having a whole vacation to look forward to is great.

I had gotten only about 4 hours of sleep after staying up late trying to get homework done. I spent all morning continuing homework until it was time to leave for the airport. Luckily I had two classes get cancelled so I had all day to work on homework. However as soon as you get this amazing text, it becomes a lot harder to focus.

Look who got a preferred room upgrade!​

After all focus was lost I drove from campus to my apartment and walked the dog before I abandoned him for a couple days.

Side Note: I realized I haven't shared any pictures of my dog, who is my and my fiancé's fur child so enjoy some puppy pictures or feel free to skip

Riley has been a Disney fan his whole life and loves his Disney blankets


He also likes Mickey waffles (who isn't a fan of Mickey Waffles???), which he took a bite out of immediately after I gifted it to him
So heads up, the Disney dog toy collection is not the most durable

And one more picture to sum up what a lovable dork he is​

Ok back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I drove to my mom’s house. My mom drove me to the airport and got me some much needed and much appreciated Starbucks. I wasn’t sure how long of check in and security lines to expect for an evening flight since we always fly out of DEN in the morning but much to my surpise I had ZERO bag check and security lines and was at my gate before I knew it. DIA was working on replacing carpets so there were big rolls of carpet everywhere. Very professional, and welcoming Denver!

Isn't this what everyone wants to see all over the airport!​

I wasn’t very hungry but grabbed a slice of pizza which turned out to be disappointing.

Chef Jimmy's at DIA is normally pretty good but this doesn't even look appealing
​

Soon enough I was boarding the plane. I got to my seat to find crumbs from chex mix all over my seat and the floor.

This was after I had already picked up several pieces
​

Apparently Frontier contracted out all of their cleaning people and now the flights are not always getting cleaned between flights. I guess you get what you pay for. I spent $39 for the ticket, $30 for a checked bag, and $12 for a seat assignment so not too bad for a flight from DEN to MCO. Other than the guy sitting next to me taking off his feet and putting them on the arm rest of the seat in front of him (which completely grosses me out. Ewww ) it was a very eventful flight. I continued on with the theme of the day and did more homework on the flight for the first half and then rewarded myself by watching Cinderella on my laptop. College professors just aren’t considerate of my needing my Disney time during the middle of the semester. But work hard, play hard is my philosophy so I pushed myself to work hard in order to enjoy my mini vacation. My flight got in around 11:45. I took the fake o rail to baggage claim and waited 25 minutes to get my bag. Does anyone else rush off the plane and speed walk through the terminal only to be stuck waiting for a bag? Maybe some day I will learn to be more patient getting to the baggage claim and then not have to wait the excruciating amount of time when you are finally at your destination, but still stuck in the airport. While waiting I admired how Disney I looked.

I refrained from wearing Mickey ears or Disney leggings but I still ripped by favorite mouse
​

Of course my bag arrived at baggage claim one which is one the complete opposite side as the DME. It took my about 15 minutes to walk from bag carousel one to MDE but luckily once I got there a bus was waiting for me and we were shortly on our way.

I love getting actual DME busses and not the fake Mears ones
I also love having my bus waiting for me
​

The bus was full and a majority was getting off at Sports. It took only 30 minutes to get from the airport, underneath that magical welcome to Disneyworld sign, and arrive at my hotel.

NEXT UP: My first impression of All Star Sports

 

[Carathryn]

Day 1 - Part 2: All Star Sports First Impression

I had received my room ready text earlier in the day but stopped at the front desk to make sure charging was set up on my magicband. I then proceeded to Surf’s Up Building 1 and quickly found my room. First impression: The surfing section is great! I am not a sports fan so I requested the section soley for the purpose of not being in the football or baseball section which have zero appeal to me (sorry sports fans! ). The Surf’s Up section is also the preferred section but I got it without paying anything extra. It was about a 3 minute walk from the lobby to my room. Not bad at all! I loved the giant surfboards and the themed pool.
Once I walked into my room I was again pleasantly surprised. I got a king sized bed and a handicap accessible bathroom. The room was clean, although looked like it could use a little bit of an update with aging floors and furniture.
I put on some Stacy and did one more hour of homework before calling it a night around 2am.

Side note: This was my first time staying at a value. Our last two trips we stayed at Coronado and the trip before I had stayed offsite. After staying at only a moderate at WDW and just returning from a stay at the gorgeous Grand Californian hotel at DLR I was a little nervous about the "downgrade", however for the price I would totally stay here again and I found that I can be happy anywhere on Disney property. There were a few minor problems which I will get into later, and of course if money were no object I would prefer a mod or deluxe, but don't let these boards scare you out of a value stay.

Here are some resort and room pictures!

A quiet All Star Sports lobby


An empty Surf's Up pool






Why hello king bed!


I am not a fan of the wall paper lining, I think it makes it look cheaper. But I do like that they tried to add some color with the picture, bed runner, and wall paper. I also approve of the curtain separating the sink area from the bed, this would help a little with more than one person getting ready in the morning.


Basic mini fridge, desk, and tv stand with drawers




Handicap accessible bathroom
​

NEXT UP: Can I resist the temptation of spending my first day out of the parks?

 

[Victoriasmom98]

TOTALLY TUBULAR!!! Okay, that was my bad attempt referencing the Surf's Up section. Looking forward to more of your trip!!!!

 

[Carathryn]

TOTALLY TUBULAR!!! Okay, that was my bad attempt referencing the Surf's Up section. Looking forward to more of your trip!!!!

I am glad to have you following along and I am looking forward to more gnarly references, duuuude! (channeling my inner Crush the turtle)

 

[Carathryn]

Day 2 - Part 1: The Joys of Disney Bus Transportation

I was planning on sleeping in but my body woke up around 8 and I was ready to go. I took a shower, got ready to go, and did a little bit of homework. I had a breakfast reservation at Ohana at 11:10 so I left my room and made my way to the bus stop.

View from outside my room, a lot prettier than a parking lot


Values: Bright, Big, In your face decor

A quiet morning by the pool
​

I figured I would give myself about 90 minutes to get to the Poly. I walked out to the bus stop which is right off of the lobby at Sports and got in the line for Magic Kingdom. There were about 30 people ahead of me. It took 30 minutes for the first bus to show up and by the time I got on there were about 75 people behind me. All of the other buses seemed to be coming about every ten minutes. I saw four animal kingdom buses before the MK bus came.

People began clapping when this beauty finally showed up
​

The sardine packed bus got us to MK in a little under 20 minutes. I was able to get right off the bus and onto the monorail.

Hello lovely Polynesian Village Resort!
​

I got off at the poly stop and wasted some time wondering around the gift shops. I checked into Ohana about 15 minutes before my reservation time.

Walking into the bright colorful lobby for the first time this trip!


I of course had to stop for a picture with my favorite tiki man
The nice lady who took this picture for me tried waiting a couple minutes for the group in matching pink jackets to move but they didn't quite get over far enough, oh well


I don't quite understand the placement of this somewhat random Lilo and Stich surfboard


Love the restaurant specific beepers
​

UP NEXT: My Ohana Breakfast Review

 

[Carathryn]

Day 2 - Part 2: Ohana Take One

​

At 11:15 I was taken to my table by a Cousin. I was happy to be seated close to the windows overlooking the water and MK. If I leaned back a little bit I could see the castle from my table. My waitress was fantastic and kept my POG juice full the entire time, which is very impressive because I drank a lot of that stuff.

View from my table, hello bright beautiful morning!


The plate of fruit, two different types of sweet breads, and POG juice to start​

I am a vegetarian and was very pleasantly surprised when the waitress asked if I wanted a tofu vegetable dish instead of the meat when I asked her to hold the meat from the platter. All of my food came very quickly and it was all so delicious. I would not hesistate to eat here and pay the price just for the food, let alone the character interaction.

My veggie plater, it was really hot and was very nicely seasoned


Scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and an adorable Stitch waffle
There was also Mickey waffles but I only got a Stitch one, which I preferred since you can't get them elsewhere that I know of​

I didn’t have any characters stop by until I was done eating but it wasn’t too long of a wait. Lilo, Mickey, and Pluto came by. They did not have character attendants or photopass people but a nice lady at the table next to mine always jumped up and offered to take my picture. Last was Stitch who did have a photopass photographer with him. All of the interactions were a quick hug and a photo but it did not feel too rushed. I am sure I could have kept them at my table for longer but after I got my picture I let them move on to all of the other tables filled with little kids who were super excited to meet them. My only complaint is the lighting in the restaurant is kinda funny, really bright next to the wall of windows, and really dark everywhere else.

​

Up Next: What do do with a whole afternoon at Disneyworld with no plans?

 

[Carathryn]

Day 2 - Part 3: When The Castle Calls, You Come!

Once I was completely stuffed with food I pondered what to do next with my day. The original plan was to go check out some of the different resorts. But I quickly realized that checking out new places was not as fun without someone to share them with and bus rides by myself seemed to last a lot longer without someone to talk to. That and the fact that I was so close to the castle but not going in to see it, was kind of bumming me out. I didn’t know if I could stare at my beautiful palace without stopping by to say hi. So I stopped at the poly front desk and even though I wasn’t staying there the front desk cast member was really great and helped me add a day to my ticket. He also made sure that my room requests for Sunday were marked and told me how excited he was to welcome me on Sunday for my first Poly stay. He showed almost as much excitement about my trip as I did, which believe me, was very hard to accomplish. With a lot of front desk hours being cut recently, I would have cut him some slack if he wasn't the friendliest CM but he really was fantastic and I wish I could remember his name. After my great cast member interaction I walked down to the beach and got on the boat that was waiting to take me home. On the boat I also made my last minute fastpass reservations.

Goodbye for now Poly!


Hello castle! (Plus crane )​

I walked in to Main Street with a giddy, huge grin on my face. Snow White was about to come out in ten minutes so I got in her line. I was debating if I wanted to wait since I had just met her last month in DL, but I am so glad I did. This was the best character interaction all trip. Prepare yourself for a ton of Snow White pictures and a full meet and greet recap.

First she grabbed my braid and asked if the birds had helped me out this morning


She showed off her beautiful curls and said that the birds had done a lovely job today, then she started bouncing up and down to make her curls bounce because that is her favorite part about curls.
She is too precious.


Then she asked if I was here to find my prince.
I told her I already found my prince.


I like this photopass picture
This meet and greet convinced me to buy one day memory maker


Then we were cracking up about how Doc always picks the best diamonds but Dopey is still learning
Awkward laughing photo but we were both obviously very entertained with the conversation


And before I was on my way she had us take several different posed pictures.
This was definitely the best princess interaction I have ever had and Snow White may now need to be on my favorite princess list because she was perfect.
​

Up Next: Here is why you should do a better job planning your MK days

 

[Glam]

Great TR. I'm following along since we'll be at the poly this summer, and have an adr at ohana

Your dog is so cute!

 

[Carathryn]

Great TR. I'm following along since we'll be at the poly this summer, and have an adr at ohana

Your dog is so cute!

Thanks for reading along! I am very jealous that you have a Poly trip booked this summer! Ohana is one of my favorite resort restaurants. Are you eating there for breakfast or dinner?

I'd tell my dog you think he is cute but I don't think his ego needs to get any bigger since he already thinks he runs my life

 

[Heluvsme]

You are darling! What a great report, I can't wait to read more!

Dawn

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I love your interaction with Snow White. The last time we met her I thought she was a bit annoying. Oh well. Your pictures are really adorable!! Sounds like you had so much fun!

 

[Carathryn]

You are darling! What a great report, I can't wait to read more!

Dawn

Aww thank you, you're making me blush! I can't wait to share more posts!

 

[Carathryn]

I love your interaction with Snow White. The last time we met her I thought she was a bit annoying. Oh well. Your pictures are really adorable!! Sounds like you had so much fun!

That's too bad you had an annoying Snow White. I'm not the biggest fan of her voice in the movie but I love how animated and how excited she has been to see me both times I've met her in the parks.

 

[Glam]

Thanks for reading along! I am very jealous that you have a Poly trip booked this summer! Ohana is one of my favorite resort restaurants. Are you eating there for breakfast or dinner?

I'd tell my dog you think he is cute but I don't think his ego needs to get any bigger since he already thinks he runs my life
[/QUOTE

We're so excited. Actually we'll be doing both breakfast and dinner at Ohana - spaced throughout the trip. I'm.super excited - and jealous that you've been to DLR. Never been there and this is only my 2nd trip to WDW. Last time was just 2 days, offsite, and I know now that we were so unprepared!

 

[Carathryn]

We're so excited. Actually we'll be doing both breakfast and dinner at Ohana - spaced throughout the trip. I'm.super excited - and jealous that you've been to DLR. Never been there and this is only my 2nd trip to WDW. Last time was just 2 days, offsite, and I know now that we were so unprepared!

How exciting! Eat lots of Ohana bread pudding for me! I'd highly recommend a trip to DLR but I'm sure you will get out there someday, it is a whole different experience from WDW in my opinion. With WDW there is pretty much ALWAYS more preparation that can be done

 

[purplelover88]

I'm joining in, this trip sounds pretty great even if it unfortunately included so much homework.

 

[DisneyGateway]

Following

 

[Carathryn]

Day 2 - Part 4: When the Beast calls, you answer

After my magical moments with Snow White it was time to use my first fastpass. First I stopped for some castle pictures.

Oh the infamous crane


Poor photopass photographers having to crop out the crane and hear people complain about it all day
​

I walked right on HM. It was a bit disappointing after seeing the awesome Nightmare Before Christmas layover on the HM in DL the previous month but I still enjoyed my time with my ghost hosts. Afterwards I had to use the bathroom and we all know there is only one bathroom you go to in MK, the tangled ones!

For anyone who has not been to WDW:
What did the imagineers build here?
A tangled ride? A tangled meet and greet? A tangled gift shop? A tangled ​

I sat down outside the tangled bathrooms and thought to check the MDE app just for fun and see if there were any BOG reservations open for the day. I wasn’t too hungry but every MK stop should have a BOG stop and luckily for me there was a 2:15 reservation with my name on it. I killed some time with Mickey's Philharmagic which we had missed on our trip in October. This is such a cute little 4D show and I highly recommend stopping by to get a break from walking and long lines in the middle of the day.

​

After the show I preordered a Master’s cupcake and a drink at BOG. I walked up to check in and they handed me a yellow rose and told me to walk up to the register to pay. This let me bypass the long line of people who probably waited 25 minutes just to order so I highly recommend pre ordering your food and it seems like you can preorder right before your reservation so there is no need to plan your meal weeks in advance if you don’t know what you will feel like eating the day of.

​

BOG was the most crowded I have ever seen it. There were no tables in the ballroom or the Beast’s study. I waited a while and snagged a room in the study just in time for my food to come. For anyone wondering, yes the grey stuff is delicious. Also this cupcake is a lot better than the grey stuff candy bar thing they serve at dinner. I was very happy about getting my reservation just to eat my cupcake.

​

 

[Carathryn]

Day 2 - Part 5: Gaston's little wife

As I was walking out I looked up wait times and everything had long waits. Even Voyage of the Little mermaid had a 40 minute wait. I decided to wait 15 minutes to ride the carousel since it is something I had never taken the time to do.

Not sure why carousel horses always have to look so upset with their ears pinned back and their mouths wide open, but I was enjoying my ride​

Following my carousel ride I wandered over to meet Gaston. He was coming out in about 15 minutes. It was really hard to tell who was in line and who was just sitting in the shade so I may have cut some people off. If you are one of those people. I am sorry. Gaston was fun as always. We talked about how he must be the highlight of my day and he saw my ring and said excellent, I see you have already accepted my proposal unlike Belle. It was a good meet.

Three girls ahead of me had on a "His little wife" button. Gaston was happy to see that he had several little wives, he just needed one more, Belle.

I saw this button ALL over the parks during my visit
I had no idea that many people where in love with Gaston

​

We started off with the usual banter, with Gaston telling me about how amazing he is


Then we moved on to the typical bicep pose


And we finished with an awkward hug, where I just wanted to smile at the camera while Gaston needed some more reassurance that I was there just to see him​

After the meet I looked at my phone to see that it was down to 15% percent battery. I needed it for pictures at dinner tonight so I decided to go back to my hotel room and charge it since there wasn’t much else to do with the lines being so long for everything. I was able to get right on a bus and before I knew it I was back in my room.

Up Next: A dinner with the royal family