17 Days of Disney Magic (aka Brits, Pirates & Princesses) - Lots of PICS!

[seobaina]

Hi all

Well, I’ve never done one of these trip reports before but I figured I’d give it a go. I actually started this last year but ‘real life’ got in the way and I didn’t get far in. Now the thread is closed so I figured I’d start again and try to actually complete it this time. So here goes…

My best friend, Karen, and I hit WDW for 17 nights in April / May 2008. Yes it sucks to be home and not there anymore!! So this is my way of writing it up while I remember it all and also slowing down the post-Disney blues! Over the 17/18 days we stayed in 3 hotels, took part in a P&PP, were made over at BBB, attended the Aloha, met lots of characters, ate almost EVERYWHERE and had SO MUCH FUN!!!

So, over the next few days I'm gonna type it up and post pics of the time for anyone who is interested. I'll discuss the good, bad, ugly, pretty and the moments that made me cry (with happiness).

So, here's the cast:

I'm (Helen) on the right as you look at it, and my best friend of 12 years, Karen, is on the left. We're both 32, both English and met at University while taking our undergrad degrees. Karen now works in Finance and I have 3 jobs - teaching sound postproduction, building up my own small film company and...believe it or not...working for Disney. I've worked for Disney for nearly 14 years (part-time) in a UK store. Does this give me a unique view of the 'World'?...well, when there I'm still just a guest but yeah, I guess it means I expect even more from cast and show! Oh, on the old thread someone asked me if being a cast member meant that I got discount. I didn’t get a chance to reply because I didn’t see it until it was too late. So, the answer is yes…I get discount on hotels, merchandise and food. BIG help!

Anyway, I've been to Disney World 4 times but Karen's first ever trip was in 2006. We went as a group of 6 adults and it was fun but crazy trying to keep everyone happy...so this time we left everyone else at home and did a girls-only trip! 17 nights of FUN FUN FUN...and yep, I miss it already!

We left the UK on April 23rd and the trip was to celebrate Karen and my birthdays - hers is early April (but too busy at her job to go then) and mine is the 24th. We stayed in Orlando til May 10th and during that time we were at Port Orleans French Quarter, then Animal Kingdom Lodge, then Caribbean Beach Resort (long story)!

I hope people will enjoy this and maybe find it useful. If not…oh well, guess I’ll have had fun writing it. So here goes....

 

[seobaina]

We flew with Virgin from Manchester airport. Our flight was at 11:30am so we were there at 8am. No offense to those who love Virgin but we were VERY unimpressed. It didn't help that there was an hour delay when we got to the airport and checked in, and then a further hour delay just as we went to board. Both were for 'mechanical problems', which I gotta admit is not very reassuring to hear.

Finally on board we faced a 9-hour flight to Orlando. Movies were good, food edible...not enough drinks (or even water). Pretty view though:

But who cares about the flight, we're going to DISNEY!!!! And isn't this the most beautiful sight?

With our hire car sorted (we were upgraded to a minivan as they didn't have any compact cars available and I was cheeky ) the two of us headed to our hotel and Disney World.

Our first 14 nights were to be at Port Orleans French Quarter and I've gotta say, I really loved it. The only WDW hotel I’ve stayed in before was POP (Which I also love). POFQ was peaceful and really lovely to look at. Our room was a standard one and had plenty of space for the two of us and all our things.

I got very excited as soon as we walked into the room because we were met by my first ever, proper towel animal!

After settling in we went to the supermarket to get some breakfast things, then ate at Golden Corral and headed back to the hotel. It was getting late (very late our time) so we pretty much just looked at the hotel and went to bed. Gotta be ready for Disney right?

 

[scottny]

WOW!!! 17 days?

I am along for the ride on this one.

 

[seobaina]

Next morning - My Birthday!!!! We decided to have a lazy day - well we did have 17 days to go and hey, we approach Disney like a military operation, so gotta save energy. With Chef Mickey's booked that evening and BBB booked at lunch, we got up late and, after breakfast, we headed down to the dock to get the boat to Downtown.

Failure number one . If staying at POFQ allow plenty of time when using the boat cause it gets filled with guests from Riverside. After two boats allowed only 2 FQ guests on each due to space, we realised we weren't gonna make it and ran for the car to drive down there instead.

Once at DTD we went straight to BBB which was FUN!!!! I went for the Diva look and Karen went for Punk Princess.

Gotta say thanks to a family that were there having their daughters princess makeovers. The mother and grandmother were lovely to us and kept saying how great we looked Also, for any adults thinking you're too 'old' to do this - according to my FGMIT the oldest princess they have had there was 92!


All made up we decided to have lunch and wander around DTD. Very sweetly the first cast member we met whilst walking bowed and said 'Hello Princesses'

 

[seobaina]

I love DTD

We decided to have lunch at the Earl of Sandwich before heading on to the Lego store:

Then we went to the AMAZING World of Disney

Finally we headed back to the car to drive to MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

As we knew we only had a couple of hours at MK before we'd need to go for dinner anyway, and still had two days set aside for the park, we figured we'd take the scenic route to get there. If you haven’t taken the ferry I highly recommend it. It was quiet (as it was mid afternoon by now) and watching that castle come closer and closer across the water is magical!

Entering the park I couldn’t stop smiling as soon as I saw this:

 

[seobaina]

The park was REALLY busy - I guess it was a busy time of day though and I think we'd caught the end of some spring break holidays. We'd be warned it would be busy and, as you can see below, it definitely was! With a bit of map studying, we decided to watch the 'dream along with Mickey' show before hitting adventureland.

Love this site:

After a ride on Pirates (one of my faves) and a climb up the Treehouse, we bumped into some old friends:

Then with time running out we went to take a photo by the castle before heading to the Contemporary and Chef Mickeys.

 

[seobaina]

We'd done Chef Mickey's for breakfast before and it is just as much fun for dinner! Our server was great, the food was good, and the interaction was so much fun. We were even given a placemat and two cakes to celebrate our birthdays. Every time the server went past he gave us matches to light the candles so that characters coming round would join in LOL

My face when I first saw Mickey

Karen ordered some strange blue drink, which she said was lovely

Ok, here's the food pics for you food porn fans:

 

[seobaina]

And then a few friends dropped by for my birthday meal

We took so long to eat that we even met a couple of them twice and we really didn't think we were eating slowly. When Donald came past he stopped to blow out my candle with me

And isn't this the cutest thing?

 

[seobaina]

After a long yummy dinner we headed back to the hotel where we took ages getting our BBB hair untangled from the tiny elastic bands. Don't worry though, the gel they stick in washes out very easily and ends up leaving your hair nicely conditioned! It's just the bands that take a while. For your amusement however, here our some pics of us trying to take the hairdo out

With the extension bits just taken out and the first small bands broken:

And the aftermath, pre-shower, with all the bands out

Ok, that's it so far. Hope you're enjoying. Will post more in a bit.

 

[seobaina]

Good to have you on board Scottny - hope you enjoy the report

 

[scottny]

WOW

that was a lot of updates.

Looks like a great day and night.

I love POR/FQ, great resort to stay and walk around.

To bad you couldn't get on the boat, hope you did at another time.

The blue drink is the Glowtini and it is so goooood.

 

[seobaina]

Ok, day two we actually spent outside the parks because it was a Friday and end of spring break holidays. We decided to go to the Florida Mall instead but we did still do some Disney things too.

In the morning we went to Team Disney and the Disney University so that I could look at some cast member areas. Now I'm not allowed to take backstage photos but I did take some of the buildings and access areas.

This is the Team Disney building:

and driveway

This is the Disney University building, near the cast store:

and some of the awards that exceptional cast (and long serving) can win:

 

[seobaina]

Afterwards, and before hitting the mall, we went to have a quick look at Celebration. I'd been once before but in the dark so I thought I should go when I could actually see it. They have a lovely little town area and we really wanted to stop and have an ice cream but we were running out of time so we didn't It did look beautiful though.

We did manage to make time to quickly poke our nose in the model apartment that they were showing at that time and it seemed really nice. Mind you, to us Brits ALL USA houses seem HUGE!

Here's some pics of Celebration for anyone who's not been:

The apartment building:

Afterwards we went to the mall, barnes and noble, etc...all non-disney boring shops etc, so that’s it for this days write up.

 

[seobaina]

WOW

that was a lot of updates.

Looks like a great day and night.

I love POR/FQ, great resort to stay and walk around.

To bad you couldn't get on the boat, hope you did at another time.

The blue drink is the Glowtini and it is so goooood.

LOL yeah sorry, had some of it written up already so it was quick to post. POFQ is lovely and I would happily stay there before but I still think my fave is POP! We did get on the boat another day A Glowtini? AHHA, thank you we just couldn't remember at all.

 

[seobaina]

Next morning, Saturday, again we needed our Disney fix so we decided to go to EPCOT.

We're big fans of EPCOT so we'd allowed for lots of time here over the two weeks. Because it was so busy we figured we'd go straight for the World Showcase and leave the rides for another day.

We were lucky because it was the Flower and Garden festival while we were there. This is the second time we’ve been there during the festival and if you've never been it's very beautiful and worth a trip:

Our first stop was, of course, Mexico. I dunno if it's a British thing but we tend to go to the left first.

We went inside the temple to have a look at the shops and spent some time talking to a cast member from Mexico. He said he'd been here for 10 months and was loving it. I asked what he'd loved most and he said the friends he'd met and the fact that he now felt he had family all around the world.

I highly recommend chatting to the cast if they're not too busy btw, it's interesting to talk to them about their homes and experiences. Three of the cast I work with at home have worked at WDW. In fact one, Jade, goes back most summers. She’ll be there, probably in the main street shops (where she was last year), this summer. If you see her PLEASE say hi cause she’s a sweetheart! She'll probably kill me for posting this but this is what she looks like, in case you do see her:

 

[seobaina]

Anyway, back to Mexico

We did do the ride inside Mexico, as there was no line, and we were going to try to eat there too. We'd got up late and been lazy getting going, so it was already lunchtime. However, the queue for a seat was 40 mins long and although I know that’s not too bad for that restaurant, we weren't that hungry so we decided to move on.

Between Mexico and China we bumped into our first character there - Donald! I know we'd met Donald already but he was dressed up in costume, so we figured we'd say hello again anyway.

I'm sure other posters have said it before but we find it far easier to meet characters in Epcot than in MK.
After seeing Donald we went to Norway where we attempted to grab a snack.

Unfortunately Karen wanted to try a 'local' snack and we ended up with this (sorry, can't remember the name): If you know what it’s called please let me know.

She said it was 'alright' but gotta admit I wasn't a fan, sorry.

Moving from Norway to China we stopped to spot some trolls in the garden. Took us a while but eventually someone pointed one out to us, then we found others and pointed them out to other guests. It’s quite fun to spot them and we noticed most people just walked straight past the garden. This is one of those little details that I love at Disney though.

Moving into China we noticed that there were new displays for all the Chinese horoscopes. I don’t know how long they’ve been there of if they are still there but they were really nice. They may have just been part of the festival.

Each one had a description of the personality type associated with it. Karen and I were both born in the year of the dragon and typically the write-up on that one wasn't there So if anyone gets a photo of it please send me a copy.
As we moved around the garden I spotted this cast member on her break. She just looked so sweet starring out at the garden.

Stepping out of the garden we saw a familiar face with hardly any queue so we went to say hello! The cast member with Mushu said that Mulan would be coming to join him in 10 mins so we sat on the side and talked to some other guests while we waited. Sure enough, she came out to join him and we went up to meet them both.

Mushu looked at my t-shirt and told Mulan he wanted to be my 'beast' so we danced together.

With cuddles and photos done we went shopping and spent FAR too much money in the Chinese stores. They have some lovely t-shirts and bags, etc.

 

[smithpack]

I am glad I came across your TR, and am really enjoying it. I have been looking for a May TR to read as we will be going this year the 1st through the 10th of May. I am curious to see how the lines were. Also, I am glad to have found an experienced CM. I am sure you can give me some good tips for our upcoming trip. I can't wait to see more pictures. You girls look like you had a lot of fun!

I will look for Jade while we are there.

 

[seobaina]

I am glad I came across your TR, and am really enjoying it. I have been looking for a May TR to read as we will be going this year the 1st through the 10th of May. I am curious to see how the lines were. Also, I am glad to have found an experienced CM. I am sure you can give me some good tips for our upcoming trip. I can't wait to see more pictures. You girls look like you had a lot of fun!

I will look for Jade while we are there.

Thank you Glad you're enjoying it. As for Jade...not sure she'll be there when you go . I don't think she'll get there til the end of the month cause she graduates university this year and had to get the second summer placement term. I'll check with her next shift. And while I'm sure all the experienced disers on here could answer even more than most cast members I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

As for lines - we love going then cause the lines are good. Weekends are still busy but most of the time we didn't have to wait too long. I think I only had one long wait (40mins). The weather is great then too - hot but not too hot. And the last two trips I've done at that time there has been virtually no rain.

 

[seobaina]

Leaving China we grabbed a large chocolate fudge sundae - highly recommended btw - and walked our way into Germany. Dopey was already there signing so we joined the line only to be told he was disappearing for a while. As we were in no rush that day, we decided we would hang around until he came back so we walked around the area a bit taking photos. There was this gorgeous SW display:

As we were walking we saw Flick and Princess Atta in the playground area. Neither one had a line so we figured we'd say hello.

BE WARNED - it's tough to love a bug!!! They have really big hard heads that kept knocking off our hats, etc

Rejoining the queue for Dopey, we were told again that they were going soon and some of the families up front were taking AGES!!! The family behind us were chatting too us as we waited and we were all getting worried that we'd miss them. Finally, however, we got our shot with Dopey and Snow White (YAY).

And Snow White was extra fun. She saw my t-shirt and asked if I had met Belle yet. I said not yet but that we were heading to see her next in France. So Snow White asked us to help. Apparently they were having a game of 'tag' that day, so she asked us to 'tag' Belle next for her. We agreed of course .

It was getting late by this point, and we had dinner reservations that night, so we figured we'd just go and meet Belle and Beast on their last slot of the day (check times guide) and then we’d head out of the park. At this point in the holiday we weren’t spending that many hours in the parks because we knew we had plenty of time and we wanted to do all the non-Disney stuff too. Oh and get some sleep to be ready for the following two weeks!

When we got to France we went straight to the meet & greet spot (by the lake). There was one other family there but as people saw us waiting a few joined us. We were about ten minutes early so by the time Belle came out ten groups had joined.

See everyone likes coming to Disney

Belle came out and the family in front asked her where the Beast was. She said he was coming out in just a few moments so they asked if they could wait to meet him too. She was amused by that and agreed, so of course the rest of us asked the same thing. After playfully pouting that no one wanted to meet her, she happily took us out of the queue one-by-one to take a photo then let us go back to where we were to wait for the beast.

I told Belle that Snow White had said ‘tag’ and she said, “oh, that Snow White is so mischievous. Who can I tag now?”.

After thinking for a moment she asked if we were going to meet anyone else that day. We said we couldn’t but we would do the next time we were in EPCOT. So she asked us to remember and tag then next character we saw for her. Which we naturally agreed to do (it turned out to be Mary Poppins)!
When the Beast finally arrived she explained to him what had happened with the queue and he laughed. Then we went to take our photos. Belle pointed out my t-shirt to him and he got really excited and gave me a huge hug!

Saying our goodbyes we literally ran back to the hotel bus, leaving EPCOT behind as we went to change for the Aloha Dinner Show.

 

[seobaina]

That evening we drove to the gorgeous Polynesian hotel for the dinner show. We didn’t have a lot of time before check-in to have a look around so we literally walked through the gift shop (where I spotted a Jack Sparrow towel I needed ) and headed to the meeting spot.

After check-in we were given some lays (sp?) and asked to wait in an area with all the other guests until they came to get us. We were there about twenty minutes so we took a few photos ourselves and helped out some of the families by taking photos of them. I know how hard it is for families to get photos of themselves as a group, so if I see people trying to do it I always try to help.

Finally we were led down to our table, where we joined a mother and her daughter (who I think was 19). We chatted to them and found out that the mother was celebrating her birthday that week too. Our server brought out a birthday celebrations certificate for her during the meal and she kindly pulled him to one side, when we weren’t looking, and told him that it was my birthday too, so he gave me a certificate as well! So sweet of her!

During the meal Karen ordered a cocktail that came with a flashy ice cube. It was so cool that I bought the glass and cube myself as a memento, even though I don’t drink.

The food was really nice…although I wasn’t keen on the salad dressing. And there was soooooo much of it.
Food porn time!

As they brought out the volcano desert the main show started and it was fantastic. The hula dancers were really good and there was a cute story that went through the show. But the best bit was the fire dancing. Not only were they so talented (or crazy, I’m not sure) but they were kinda hot too. Certainly we (the four adult ladies at the table) enjoyed the show!

At the end they took all the kids up onto the stage, which was really cute!

After the show we decided to have a look around the hotel (in the dark) before we drove back to ours. We figured we might as well use the opportunity (while we had the car) to see as many hotels as we could. We walked around the beach and pool areas then headed back to the store.

I bought my towel and, as they were nearly closing and there weren’t many guests, we chatted to the cast member for a while. She’d been with the company over ten years and we had a really nice talk.

Finally, with a long day ahead of us, we went back to the POFQ and fell asleep pretty quickly!