"You Can't Make Disney Your Permanent Residence." COMPLETE! 10/21 x 2

[dawnmichele]

I have been back from my last Disney trip for a really long time. Since December 14th to be precise, and I am just now starting this trip report. Which means this is almost 4 months late. That is ridiculousness! I know. But last night when I was wondering to myself if maybe I should just skip the trip report this time I knew I couldn’t because I want to show everyone my pictures! I have a lot and I really like some of them. So I decided to start today, even if I have forgotten some details and the report does turn out to be more images than words. It might happen. On the other hand, I am very chatty so you never know.

So - My name is Shelly and I am addicted to Disney World. This last trip was my 5th, and I managed to stretch it for 16 days. I’m not even kidding.

I stayed in 3 resorts.
I visited every park and Downtown Disney.
I pin traded.
I ate so much food, with and without the dining plan.
I got sick.
I did not get drunk.
I had my first Dismeet.
I walked 147 miles.
I went to my first and second MVMCP.
I got 5 magic bands.
I stayed 16 magical days.
I took about 120gb of photos and video.


Everybody ready?
Then on with the show…


Introductions

 

[dawnmichele]

http://www.disboards.com/threads/yo...-again-10-11-x-2.3260644/page-9#post-54563902Index of Posts

Let's get started.

Day One

Introductions - 4/7/14
Getting There - 4/8/14
I love the Animal Kingdom! - 4/9/14
The rest of the evening! - 4/12/14

Day Two

She loves the spaceman more! 5/20
What a magical dinner. 6/2
Princesses! 6/3
You never can tell with bees. 6/3
Closing down the park. 6/3

Day Three

Late start and lunch at Epcot 7/7
Meeting Belle in my Tardis tee and other things. 7/7
Night time and Illuminations FP+ photos. 7/8

Day Four

Morning Safari. 7/18
More Animals, Brunch and a Giant Tree. 7/18
The Magic of Camp Minnie Mickey. 7/19
In which I didn't defend anything. 7/24
No kiss goodnight. 7/24

Day Five

The bad part (with a happy ending). 7/24
Celebrate A Dream Come True. 7/26
Celebrate A Dream Come True - Part 2. 7/26
Holiday Royalty 7/28
Holiday Wishes and the start of the parade. 7/29
Once Upon a Christmas Time at Christmas. 7/30
The rest of the party. 8/5

Day Six:

Downtown Disney for the first time. 8/7
I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. 8/8
Those lights! They're dancing! 8/8
Like After A Dementor Attack 8/10

Day Seven: 3 parks in 1 day

Friendship Day Brunch 8/11
Wildest Ride in the Wilderness 8/11
Mostly Animals 8/12
Gorillas are smart 8/15
Wrapping it up at Epcot 8/15


Day Eight: Hollywood nights
Kind of good at what they do. 8/15
Kansas City is important, people! - 8/16
First time at Fantasmic! - 8/18
On to Epcot. - 8/18
Goodnight Disney World. - 8/22


Day Nine: Brian and Adriane arrive
Epcot morning and my first Dismeet. - 8/27
Family dinner at 'Ohana. - 8/28
Fireworks from Bay Lake. - 8/29


Day Ten: Epcot all day

AoA and Epcot photos - 8/30
World Showcase is Gorgeous - 8/30
More Epcot Fun - 8/30
Pick a Pearl - 8/30
Teppan Edo - 8/30


Day Eleven: The day they left

Goodbye Family - 9/8
Those Princesses Though! - 9/12
New Fantasyland - 9/14
Two Meets in One - 9/15
Frontierland - 9/15
Mostly Castle Spam - 9/18
I love being your guest! - 9/18


Day Twelve: Epcot alone and my 2nd MVMCP

Gorgeous morning at Epcot. - 9/20
I took the boat to lunch. - 9/22
Volcano baked pizza. - 9/22
Another Very Merry party. - 9/29
Once Upon a Christmastime at Christmas. - 9/30
Once Upon a Christmastime at Christmas contines. - 12/1
The MVMCP winds to an end. - 12/1


Day Thirteen: That day I took pictures at Animal Kingdom all day long

Off to a rough start. - 12/12
Someone left their laundry. - 12/12
Wanna see some gorillas? - 12/12
Walking to Asia - 12/12
I can't help myself. - 12/15
Still with the photos. - 12/15
Another safari. - 12/15
Let's check out Dinoland! - 12/16
More Dinoland. - 12/16
AKL and Boma. - 12/16

Day Fourteen: That night I went to Gasparilla Grill

Did your umbrella bring you from Kansas? - 10/10/15
Journey on the Liberty Belle - 10/11
Wandering Fantasyland - 10/11
In which I join the Circus - 10/11
Lunch before I catch the train out of town - 10/11
Hollywood Studios - 10/11
Dinner at the GFLo - 10/11


Day Fifteen: AS Movies & out so late I almost turned into a pumpkin

Goodbye BLT and Epcot morning - 10/13
Not into picking troll noses. - 10/13
All Star Movies - 10/15
Dinner and Fireworks - 10/15
Goodnight Disney World - 10/15


Day Sixteen: The sad goodbye

Magic Morning - 10/18
More Magic Kingdom - 10/21
Buzz Lightyear lives in Tomorrowland - 10/22
The Sad Goodbye - 10/22



Personal Updates:
I applied for the DCP. - 9/12
I got accepted! I'm moving to Disney World! - 12/9

 

[dawnmichele]

I’m Shelly. I’m 47 and have now been to Disney World 5 times, although the first wasn’t until I was 30. I love everything about a Disney vacation. Rides, characters, theming, food, people watching, resorts, photography, music, parades, fireworks -- I mean really, what’s not to like?

My favorite Disney movie is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, even though I agree it’s themes are way too dark for a Disney movie. The music (by Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote Godspell and Pippin) is incredible and I always root for the underdog. Growing up I loved Aristocats and Bambi. I also kinda love 101 Dalmations. I think about the Twilight Bark all the time (when my dogs won’t stop barking to the neighborhood dogs). Merida is my favorite Princess, but I started to grow very fond of Snow White on this trip. Also, Buzz Lightyear is my boyfriend.

This is my daughter Hannah. She was 20 when we took this trip. She is studying animation and druing this trip she was seriously considering doing the College Program. She has also been to Disney 5 times. Her favorite Princess is Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, but she grew up loving Ariel and Esmerelda. However, The Lion King trumps them all in her heart. Her favorite part about going to Disney World is the way it makes her feel like she’s 5 all over again. Oh, and she hates to have her picture taken.

This is Hannah’s father, and my ex, Danny. We like to vacation together as a family, and Disney is his favorite place to vacation. I asked him if he had a favorite Princess. “None of the old ancient princesses like Cinderella.” which I found funny. He’d pick Ariel, with Belle a close second. He loves 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This was his 7th trip to Disney World. His favorite part of Disney World is that he can use a scooter. He can’t stand or walk for more than a few minutes, so there’s not many places he can have a fun vacation, but Disney makes it easy for him.

This is my awesome brother, Brian. I think he loves Disney even more than I do - he’s certainly been a lot more than I have. I don’t even know how many times but I’m sure it’s in the double digits. He loves Walt Disney, the man and Disney the business. I think he said Jasmine is his favorite Princess, and his favorite thing to do in Disney World is walk around and soak it all in.

He's with his girlfriend Adrienne. Luckily she was already a Disney lover when she started dating my brother. She’s been to the parks several times with and without him. She loves Lady and the Tramp, but I am sad to say I do not know her favorite Princess!

Somehow we only got in one PhotoPass session all together. There's probably a rule about how much goofiness can go on in one photo...

And with introductions out of the way, we can get on with our tale...

up next: Getting There

 

[BookTrout]

Okay, you are officially my hero.....

 

[dawnmichele]

Okay, you are officially my hero.....

Well wow. Thanks! I am honored .
I hope you'll still think that when the report is done .

 

[dawnmichele]

The drag part about writing the first and second day’s reports is that on the second day, I had a big fail with my SD card on day two and so have very few photos of those first couple days. It makes the story harder to remember and harder to tell, plus it’s just such a big drag because the pictures are some of my favorite parts. So I wasn’t as excited to tell these day’s stories. They’re good stories anyway though, so let’s get started.

The getting there part is never very exciting, so I’m going to try to make it short. We woke up too early, loaded the car while it was still dark. We made our traditional stop for breakfast at McDonalds and I was in vacation mode.

At the airport they patted down my left ankle (weird), but things were otherwise uneventful. They've gotten so used to insulin pumps (Hannah has Type 1 Diabetes and Epilepsy, BTW) that it's never an issue anymore. We all found a seat and used our electronic devices to entertain ourselves until we boarded.

I posted this picture on Instagram.

Vacation is on!
[This font means it's something I posted on social media of some sort.]

I made a Vine as we were taking off. You can watch it here.

We headed straight for the Magical Express counter when we got off the plane. A CM met us at our first MM+ scanner of the trip. I didn’t scan right away and she had to show me which part to touch to the Mickey scanner. Turned out it worked a lot better when I took my band off and turned it around. I never had a problem after that. We got in our line and waited for our turn to get on the bus.

We were staying in a Little Mermaid room at the Art of Animation. We had stayed there last December and loved it, so we were back. Danny went to find his scooter, Hannah went to watch the animator draw something and I went to the Check In. I wish I remembered the name of the guy who checked us in because he was great. We had some trouble when we made our reservations - for some reason we could get the first set of days, and then the second, but not all in one reservation. Weird. So I asked if we could keep the same room through both reservations and he did some magic on the computer for us. While he was waiting on some thing, I was telling him about my whole trip and how I was getting to stay for 16 days. A little later when he was asking me for my home address he said “16 days is great, but you can’t make Disney your permanent address.”

Which right away seemed like a great title for this trip report.

Our groceries from wegoshop weren’t there yet, but I wasn’t too worried. We all met up and made our way to our room. It’s a long walk, but an interesting one. I couldn’t help but notice how much the greenery had filled in since last year. It looked even better.

We were almost all the way back, the last room on the 3rd floor of building 9. We had a great view.

We put our stuff away, packed our park bag and headed out!

Up Next: I love the Animal Kingdom!

 

[Batgirl67]

Luv how the family vacations together!
Luv, luv your selfie!

Look forward to more!

Cheers!
Lisa

 

[disfanforlife]

We got the same shirt for our vacation and all four of us wore it the same day. We got a lot of interest in it. I have been back for less than a month and for some reason I am missing Disney more now than I have after any trip before. My solution is read lots of trip reports until I go again. I have never written a trip report but my daughter has just started one and is doing a great job, so I might try one for our next trip.

 

[sue_88]

They patted your ankle??

Hi!! I was still hoping that you would do a report. I look forward to your humor and your photos!

 

[dawnmichele]

When we checked in, our nice CM told me we could upgrade our 10 day tickets to Annual Passes with the concierge there at the AoA. But after we waited a kinda long time for the concierge, she told us we could not. Oh well. We headed off to the Animal Kingdom knowing we could at Guest Services there.

As soon as we got there we headed to Guest Services to do the upgrade and to purchase a Tables in Wonderland card. That whole mess took about 40 minutes which was really hard to wait through patiently since we were finally there and at a park and ready to go! But we waited, and we were patient, and eventually we left that place with 3 Annual Passes and a TiW card.

Awesome.

The park seemed really crowded.

We made our way to Dinosaur! and pulled paper FPs for a little later. I’m sure I took pictures, but they were part of the lost photos. So sad

We were starving at that point. Hannah had grabbed a snack at the resort because she was smart. It seems like the food on the first day is always a problem. We eat breakfast before sunrise, and then nothing for a lot of hours while we travel, and ride the ME, and check in, and get to a park… In the future I need to plan that better. For this next trip, I’ve planned that as soon as we check in at Jambo House, we head to the Mara for some kind of noms.

So we were wandering around the AK, starving and looking for a little something to eat. We had early dinner reservations at Yak & Yeti so we didn’t want to eat too much. All we could find was ice cream. Seriously. We walked all over and every place we saw was selling ice cream, but we really wanted something savory and of more substance.

Eventually we were close to Flame Tree, so we headed there for some french fries and onion rings to split between all of us. We found a gorgeous place to sit. The food hit the spot, but man was it greasy.

Flame Tree was the only place I almost had a problem with my Magic Band. It was declined when I tried to use it to pay. So I pulled out my “backup” KTTW card, and it wouldn’t work either. And then the CM remembered that sometimes the scanner I was trying to use would stop working. She grabbed the one from the other side and my band worked right away. Awesome.

Oh I forgot to tell this about the check-in. When the CM game me our Keys to the World card, I said “Are these for backup?”. He laughed a little and said “Well, we don’t like to use the word backup…” I bet they don't, but that’s exactly what they were for.

After our snack, it was our FP window at Dinosaur! so we headed back. We saw Goofy and Pluto on the way. One of the many, many things I love about Disney is just seeing Disney characters when you’re walking around. Oh, there’s Pluto and Santa Goofy. No big deal.

We all love Dino so it was a great one to start out with. Right after we got off the ride though, Hannah realized she left her wallet in our ride vehicle. Yikes! She rushed back and told the CM - luckily our car hadn’t taken off for it’s next adventure and it was still there in the little basket where you put your stuff on the ride. Schwew. That was a close one!

Some sights as we headed back towards dinner:

I know this Dinosaur doesn’t get as much love as Gertie at HS, but I find it charming. Does it have a name (or a gender)?

Animal Kingdom is so photogenic! Sorry/not sorry I had to take so many photos.

Up Next: The rest of our evening.

 

[BOG Obsessed]

Hi Shelley
Following along on your TR, glad you've decided to follow through with writing it.


"The park seemed really crowded"......wow can't believe the crowds at AK that day. We were there on Christmas Day and it didn't seem nearly that bad. First hour and a half was walk-on for all the major rides.

Can't wait to read on...

 

[dawnmichele]

Luv how the family vacations together!
Luv, luv your selfie!

Look forward to more!

Cheers!
Lisa

Thank you so much! It's not always easy - we broke up for a reason and there's no time I remember that as much as 4 or 5 days into a vacation together! But we broke up because we were just incompatible, not because either one of us did anything really crappy to each other. And we've both always felt like the best thing for Hannah was to still let her have as much of a regular "family life" as possible even though we weren't together in that way before. She's grown now (she turns 21 in 5 days!) and I know she's really appreciated the times we've made to give her family time. I know it's not for everyone, but I am always grateful we've been able to make it work.

And thanks about my selfie! I was hoping it captured the overwhelming sense of excitement that you get right before heading out to a Disney park for the first time of your trip! Plus the pigtails - that's my signal that I have removed myself from real life and am ready to PLAY!

We got the same shirt for our vacation and all four of us wore it the same day. We got a lot of interest in it. I have been back for less than a month and for some reason I am missing Disney more now than I have after any trip before. My solution is read lots of trip reports until I go again. I have never written a trip report but my daughter has just started one and is doing a great job, so I might try one for our next trip.

I love that shirt! Hannah and I both have one, but Danny declined because he thought it was too "rude". Which is weird because he has a shirt he wears that says something like "No need to repeat yourself, I wasn't listening in the first place." I don't think they're rude - just honest!

Reading trip reports is the next best thing to going, I think. Sometimes I turn into an absolute trip report junkie and can't get enough. You should definitely try one for your next trip. It's a lot of work, but it gives you a chance to relive your vacation, and it gives you a great record of all the fun you had!!

Thanks for following along guys, and thanks so much for your sweet replies!

 

[Li Li]

Your trip and your group definitely sound fun! Can't wait to read more!

 

[dawnmichele]

They patted your ankle??

Hi!! I was still hoping that you would do a report. I look forward to your humor and your photos!

Thank you so much!! That is so nice of you to say, I appreciate it so much

And yes, my ankle.
I had to go through the body scanner, and when I came out the male TSA guy asked me to step to the side. Then a lady TSA came over and said "I'm going to pat down your left ankle. Any sore or tender spots?" I don't know if that's what they have to ask or if she was nice. But I didn't have any tender spots, so she patted my ankle and then sent me on my way.

It was really weird, but whatever it takes to get to Disney World!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[dawnmichele]

Hi Shelley
Following along on your TR, glad you've decided to follow through with writing it.


"The park seemed really crowded"......wow can't believe the crowds at AK that day. We were there on Christmas Day and it didn't seem nearly that bad. First hour and a half was walk-on for all the major rides.


Can't wait to read on...

Thanks! I'm glad you decided to follow along!

The crowd calendar said this day was going to be a 4. It really wasn't. Everyone that week was saying it seemed more crowded than they thought it would be, and after I got back I read that there were way more people more than they had predicted. Having been there I was like No Kidding. Speculation was it was because Thanksgiving was so late last year so there were only 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, where there are usually 5.

It was like that for the first several days of this trip - The kind of crowded where you can't get through to where you're going. It was frustrating, but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway, and after those first days the crowds definitely died down. By the end of my 2 weeks there, the crowds were fantastic (by which I mean there weren't many).

But yeah, it was crazy those first few days!

 

[dawnmichele]

Your trip and your group definitely sound fun! Can't wait to read more!

Following along!

Thank you to you both! I'm very glad to hear you're following along!

 

[dawnmichele]

I almost immediately regretted my decision to eat there. Not because of anything having to do with the restaurant. It was all about that I had only been at Disney for a few hours - I didn’t want to be trapped sitting still! I wanted to be out exploring and riding and taking pictures. Add to that the greasy fries and rings made me no longer have much of an appetite. And mostly add to it that the sun was going down and it was after dark at the AK! We were seated next to a window at the front and it looked gorgeous out there. It was calling me. I had a hard time caring about our food and didn’t eat much, and our service was really slow so I was impatient. I was so anxious to leave I didn’t even try any of the pineapple wonton stuff! Crazy.

I walked around outside a bit while D & H waited for the bill.

Oh look, there they are.

Most of the Nikon pictures from here on out are missing, but there is this not so great picture of the tree all lit up. (Or maybe this was from my phone. I can not remember at this point.)

My brother called me around then to see how it was going. He said I had “Disney World Voice”.

Before we left we stopped by to see Dug and Russell. The wait was kinda long since they were on a break when we got there, but it was worth it to meet the world’s best dog.

We were headed to the Contemporary so we could hop the monorail to the Magic Kingdom where Hannah was already checking things out. On the bus, a lady called me “kind” because I scooted over to make room for her. I thanked her but said I didn’t think it was that kind. She said you don’t experience many kind people at Disney and I thought that was really sad. On the ride she told me all kinds of very personal business, which was weird but kind of flattering.

The trip from AK to MK took over and hour, so we rushed through the Contemporary without checking any of the decorations or cupcakes. We went straight to the monorail line where I snapped this picture that somehow survived on the card.

We managed to enter the MK right in the middle of the parade. It was a serious mad house. Luckily, there was a CM (my notes say his name was Nathan) with a big red flashlight directing us to that backstage walkway to avoid Main Street. We came out right by Tomorrowland Terrace and it was crazy over there too. The crowds were insane. But we knew we were headed to the Haunted Mansion to meet up with Hannah and use our first FP+ so we just made our way through. It thinned out once we got near Space Mountain and we were able to walk pretty freely the rest of the way. But seriously, that mess was crazy!

We found Hannah waiting outside the Haunted Mansion and headed into the FP+ line. We all love that ride. I think it’s Hannah’s favorite. After that we headed to Big Thunder Mountain for our next set of FP+s. It was kind funky at the line - people were all over. But we found the FP+ line and right as we were getting there someone got in front of us with what I think was a DAS card. A CM had to get out his pen and write down a time while we waited while a crowd of folks with paper FPs kinda swarmed around us. One of them finally said “Can we go?” so they CM let them go on in while we waited there.

Is that even a big deal? Sheesh. No. But at the time I didn’t like it.

I did like the ride though. It’s my favorite. I had tried to time it so we could see the fireworks while we were on the ride, but it turned out most of them happened while we were in the line. We did get to see the tail end though, and that’s still a big win as far as I’m concerned.

So earlier in the evening, maybe about the time we got to the MK, my stomach started to hate me. It felt kind of on fire and full of hurt. I kept trying to ignore it, and I did pretty good at first, but as we were headed next to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, I decided to sit it out. I thought I’d either get better, or I’d go ahead and head for home.

I didn’t get better, so I parted with them at Main Street. Which was a horrible mess again because something just ended. I just found a spot in the crowd and just kept swimming. The park was closing (it had EMH though) and the bus stop was insane. I texted Danny this picture.

Two busses showed up at once so it wasn’t as bad as I feared, but man, I was feeling really badly. On the bus, the mayor of some town on the East coast told me all kinds of stuff about her family and their vacations which was nice because it distracted me.

I got a soda at the food court because sometimes when my stomach hates me like that, something about a soda helps. The CM who rang me up complimented me on the Santa Mickey nail decals which cheered me up some. It was hot and stuffy in the room, but after I turned the AC down, laid in bed and watched Stacey for a while I started to feel a little better.

When D & H got back to the room, Hannah noticed I had this weird, red, raised ring on the inner side of my arm. It was about 3 inches wide and looked weird. Hannah said she thought it was an allergic reaction. I had to wonder if it was related to my unhappy tummy. Later my brother said he thought it was from eating something at Yak & Yeti, but I feel like it started before we ate there. Either way it was bad and kinda bummed out that night and the next day some.

Not fully of course. Not even half. But a little bit. Because Disney is an eating vacation, and I didn’t feel like eating much.

Also of note, our groceries from wegoshop had still not been delivered. I assumed they were at the resort, and the resort people just hadn’t brought it, but it was too late to call them that night so it had to wait until the morning.

Up next: "She loves the spaceman more."

 

[sue_88]

Disney World Voice! I think I would recognize that.

It's too bad that the lady on the bus said that very few people were kind. I feel I have found lots of lovely people in Disney. But I probably am very good at blocking out most unpleasantness on vacation. It is a useful skill.

I hope you didn't hang on to that ill feeling for any more of your Disney Days. I have read about people who were sick and spent the whole trip in bed in their room. Not getting to go to parks when they are RIGHT THERE would just about kill me!

You have another trip soon! That is fantastic. Having about two trips to Disney a year (or more) would keep me fairly happy! That is an excellent way to get away from the real world and every day stress. I'm pretty sure this smiley is discovering the math involved in going to Disney multiple times and the joy that will bring.

Can't wait for more of the report!!

 

[AthenaBolina]

Great trip report! Looking forward t reading more sorry to here you felt bad when we go in May, I plan to have everyone take tons of vitamins and emergen c, even before we get there. Disney is a once every 4-5 years trip for us, so I would hate to be sick