365 days of Pixie Dust! -- complete

[PrincessBB]

It all started with 2 annual passes.


Well rewind about 16 years to where I first met mickey, and that's how it all began. But getting back to 2012..


At the beginning of June, my sister and I crossed the stage, tossed our caps, and got the best graduation gift ever... A set of annual passes.


I always thought I had the best parents in the world, but this just confirmed it!


This TR will chronicle all the Disney days that we were in Disney with these annual passes. I'm writing it more for me than for anyone else, so that if I ever question whether an AP is worth the money, I can re-read this and know that it is.


My name is Brittany, and I'll be your guide in reliving all if these memories.

Favorite Cinderella
Favorite character: Minnie mouse
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite ride: Thunder Mountain
Other Favorites: Monorail, Figment, and Mickey waffles!


This is Ally, my twin sister. Thank god that she loves Disney just as much as me!

Favorite belle
Favorite character: dopey
Favorite park: magic kingdom
Favorite ride: thunder mountain
Other Disney Favorites: Soarin’ and running RunDisney half marathons


After 17.5 years of doing absolutely everything together, Ally and I will be separating for college this fall, so we hoped to squeeze in as much quality Disney time as possible this summer.



Coming Up: A very short trip with a lot squeezed in: Including princess rooms at POR!!

 

[PrincessBB]

Hi y'all
I'm uploading pictures of the royal guestroom now. I can't wait to share them with you!

 

[PrincessBB]

We finally arrived at Port Orleans Riverside around 6 pm. We had just sat in barely moving rush-hour traffic on I-40 (we NEVER take 1-40) in pouring rain. My long-awaited Disney trip didn’t seem too promising at this point.

My entire mood changed upon entering the lobby of Port Orleans. Being Florida residents, we often take quick, budget trips and stay at the value hotels, but this time we decided to splurge a little bit. We had stayed at Port Orleans once before, and I love the atmosphere. The jazz music that was streaming through the lobby as we entered made me one happy girl. We quickly checked-in and headed to our room in Oak Manors. I was so excited to finally be staying in a Royal Princess room at Port Orleans! Let me tell you, it met every one of my expectations and then some!

The beautiful room! It was spotless, and it still had that new carpet smell!

The small details are amazing!

The pictures on the walls showed the princesses at Port Orleans!

Aladdin’s magic carpet!

A letter from Tiana welcomed us to her Royal Guest Room!

I was obsessed with this light! It looks so regal!

The fiber optic head boards were so cool!

Below this was a stool that was modeled after the stool from Beauty and the Beast. So precious!

I apologize for not getting any pictures of the bathroom and vanity area. We loved the double sinks, and the faucets were modeled after Genie’s lamp! The wall paper throughout both the room and the bathroom was decorated with all the best supporting characters from the princess movies – Chip, Gus and Jaq, Sebastian, etc. There was also a Cinderella-themed shelf that I neglected to get a picture of.

So after pretending to be Jasmine…

And soaking up the magic of the room just a little bit more…

We were finally off to Magic Kingdom to become official Annual Passholders and take advantage of EMH! We were just hoping that the lingering rain would keep people away because we had quite an ambitious to-do list for the night!

Nothing like a photo shoot en route to MK!

Up Next: Long-Awaited Expansions, Refurbs, and Food!

 

[PrincessBB]

We made our way over to the South depot, where there was quite a large crowd waiting for a bus to MK. I think everyone had taken a break during the afternoon showers and was now ready to face the lingering mist because MK had EMH until 2am.

After a quick bus ride, we were finally there. We headed directly for Will Call. We handed over our vouchers and our IDs, and we were on our way. It was a much quicker process than I had expected! Does anyone else find it odd that they take your finger print for a one-day ticket, but not for an AP??

Proud to be a new Annual Passholder!

At this point, we were starving. We hadn’t eaten since our quick lunch at McDonald’s before getting on the road. As much as I love some of the other counter-service options in MK, we had only one place in mind…CASEY’S! It had been almost a year since the last time I had my beloved corn dog nuggets.

We split an order of corn dog nuggets, fries, and a diet coke. We were saving room for some delicious snacks later on.

After our delicious meal, we soaked in this beautiful sight…

You can never have too many castle pictures…

Next, we headed off to Fantasyland to check out the new Dumbo!! I loved it! The old queue was so awful, but the new one was fabulously themed! And we only had to wait about 10 minutes.

The new ride is so beautiful. I love the water effect!

I didn’t get any pictures over the wall, but it looks like the expansion is coming along great. I’m so excited for everything to open!!

After our flight with Dumbo, we had to check out another recent addition, the Barnstormer! Despite the fact that the ride lasts about 20 seconds, it’s extremely cute. I have so many great memories of the Branstormer in its Toontown days…

The next major item on our to-do list was our all-time favorite ride, BTMRR! We were excited to see what they had done during the refurb. Unfortunately, the wait time was 80 minutes. We fast-passed it for later. Our return time was cutting it close to the parade, MMY, and Wishes. Anyone else hate that they’re enforcing Fast Pass return times?

While we waited, I talked my sister into riding Splash Mountain. We hadn’t ridden it in at least 5 years because I am not really a huge fan of getting wet and then walking around the parks. But since it had been sprinkling all night, we were already wet, so why not?!? The posted wait time was 30 minutes, but we only waited about 10. We were soaked and freezing, but it was definitely woprth it! It was so much fun!

We still had some time to kill before BTMRR, so we headed to Pirates, which was basically a walk-on. Pirates was great as always; the smell of Disney water never gets old! My only issue was the foreign family behind us that talked through the entire ride! They were being so obnoxious!

At this point, we were getting tired, but we still had so much left to do!

Up Next: The rest of our night in MK. Could we stay awake long enough for EMH?

 

[Pixie*Pirate]

I can't wait to read more! Those new rooms look so cool!

 

[PrincessBB]

I can't wait to read more! Those new rooms look so cool!

Thanks for reading!! So glad someone out there is Enjoy!

 

[PrincessBB]

After Pirates, it was getting close to our Fastpass return time. We headed over to BTMRR, and even though we were a few minutes early, the CM let us through. We got our favorite spot…the last row. We normally ask for it, but this time we got it without having to ask. YAYYY PIXIE DUST!

The ride was great, as always! As for the refurb, the ride seemed a little bit smoother than normal, and the queue (the Fastpass part of it, anyway) was shiny and clean!

At this point, it was nearing the time for Magic, Memories, and You to begin. We wanted to see the summer edition, so we started making our way towards Main Street by way of Fantasyland to avoid the parade route as much as possible. On our way there, I noticed that It’s a Small World only had a 5 minute wait. Even though my sister hates this ride, I talked her into riding it because it had been awhile! (For those of you counting, that’s the second ride that I convinced her to tolerate for the night.)

While the line was short for IASW, the ride itself seemed never-ending! I was still glad we rode it again though; I figure that I got my IASW fix, and I can now go back to ignoring it until I have my own kids! Unfortunately, by the time we were done riding, MMY had already started. We caught the last few minutes, but we missed the summer sandcastle segment. I consoled myself with the fact that we would be back before summer was over.

Next was Wishes, my favorite! I didn’t take many pictures, and the ones I did take are less than fabulous! Part of our view was obstructed by trees, but I didn’t let that detract from the magic! After Wishes, we high-tailed it to the Haunted Mansion, and walked right on.

At this point, we were tired and a little hungry! We weren’t sure what to do next. We really wanted to take advantage of EMH and fulfill our dream of riding BTMRR over, and over, and over again. But knowing we had another full day of fun ahead, not to mention a whole year of EMHs to take advantage of, we decided to take it slow, and just soak up the MK atmosphere.

We headed to Tomorrowland for another favorite, the TTA! The line for the TTA was the longest I have ever seen it, but it was still virtually nonexistent. It felt good to put up our feet and relax (I was getting blisters!)

“Paging Mr. Morrow, Mr. Tom Morrow…” <3

After our spin on the TTA, we grabbed some delicious Disney popcorn and a large Diet Coke and people-watched while we talked about our plans for the next morning.

We leisurely made our way to the front of the park, making an obligatory stop in the confectionary to check out all the delicious treats and walking through the shops. The bus ride back to POR was packed, and it seemed to take forever. When we finally made it back to the room, we got ready for our early morning and snuggled into the comfy new beds.


Up next, our many “firsts” at DHS!

 

[PrincessBB]

With very little sleep in us, we awoke to “When You Wish Upon a Star” playing on my IPhone at around 6:45 AM. It’s way too early in the real world, but somehow I didn’t mind waking up that early in Disney! After quickly getting dressed and grabbing our stuff, we were out the door by 7:20. We were headed to DHS, or as I still insist on calling it, MGM! But not before some pictures of POR!

So Pretty!

Yes, princess was eating Greek Yogurt for breakfast… In Disney!! (She doesn’t know that calories don’t count in Disney…silly girl!)
MGM is my absolute favorite park to have morning EMH in. The park doesn’t handle crowds well at all, and there’s just something so great about walking the empty streets of America.

After an extremely long bag check line (probably the longest I’ve ever waited in), we were joining in to the mad rush to Pixar Place.

Now don’t ask me how or why, but we have never ridden Toy Story Mania. Maybe it’s my natural instinct to avoid crowds and lines, or maybe it’s because I don’t like Buzz in MK, and I expected it to be the same?! For whatever reason, I was wrong.

Oh my God.

This ride is addicting.

What have I been missing all this time?!

Not to mention, my score blew Ally’s away!

Accuracy means nothing to me!!

I wanted to ride again! Too bad that the fast pass return time was already at 1:30!

After kicking some butt in TSM, I had worked up an appetite, and I knew the perfect place to solve my problem: Starring Rolls for the breakfast of champions.

Yummy! So good!

Up Next: More DHS, and some EPCOT!

 

[Reberella]

I'm following along! Can't wait to read more
TSM is my favorite! It's so much fun!

 

[PrincessBB]

I'm following along! Can't wait to read more
TSM is my favorite! It's so much fun!

Welcome and thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy

And I think that TSM just might be my new favorite. It was pretty addicting!

 

[PrincessBB]

After my delicious breakfast, extra magic hours were almost over. So we decided to do something that we usually just walk by. We went to ”One Man’s Dream.” Oh my gosh, I’m obsessed! Obviously it’s not an attraction that needs to be visited every trip, but I did love it.

I might be a little biased because I think Walt Disney is the most interesting man alive. Pure-genius! I always try to do my school projects on him if I can figure out a way – including an APUSH final complete with a Disney sing along and mickey rice krispie treats for everyone at the end of my presentation and an AP Psychology board game based only on Disney characters. Each different land in Magic Kingdom represented a different approach to psychology. Yes, my teachers thought I was crazy Disney obsessed, but oh well

Anyway, I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn’t seen it. It really makes you appreciate Walt for all the Disney magic he created!

After that, we headed to the animation class. Now us and these classes usually don’t end well… We usually get the worst characters ever. Last time my “Buzz Lightyear” looked more like my uncle than Buzz.But this time we were in luck. There was no line (because we went to the 9:30 class – the first class of the day,) and we finally got to draw Minnie.

YAYY!

While sitting in our drawing class, I had this crazy idea to ride TOT. I have a huge fear of elevators, and I hate that dropping feeling. So for those reasons, we had not been on Tower of Terror for years. Why not face our fears?!
The wait time was 40 minutes though. Oh well, we tried (; Maybe next time!
So instead, we went shopping! I definitely don’t have a fear of shopping and I LOVE DHS stores. I don’t know what it is, but I always find the cutest stuff in them.

I love this pillow. The back says “Pardon our Pixie Dust”:

I think I might buy it for my mother next time I’m there. There’s always some
kind of home-improvement project mid-process going on at my house. So fitting!

We decided to move on to our next park. We’d be back to MGM later that night.

Epcot here we come!!!

 

[PrincessBB]

We debated walking over to Epcot via the World Showcase entrance, but since an Epcot bus had just pulled up, we decided to take the lazy option and ride the bus. My sister has always wanted to walk from DHS to Epcot to check out the Boardwalk and use the World Showcase entrance. But I think with all the necessary walking in Disney, we shouldn’t walk any more than we have to!

In just a few minutes we were already inside Epcot, so we stopped for a little photoshoot.

You can never have too many pictures with Spaceship Earth!

After the obligatory photos at the entrance of Epcot, we had only one destination in mind. We were headed to the Land to ride one of our favorites, Soarin’! The wait time was 55 minutes, but we didn’t mind waiting. There wasn’t much else we wanted to do in Epcot on this particular day (we miss Test Track!!), so we were in no rush. The wait ended up being a little over an hour. I really wish they would come up with a faster boarding process. But regardless, the ride was great!

As we exited the Land, the delicious aroma coming from Sunshine Seasons reminded us that it was lunch time. Neither of us are huge fans of food from SS (I know, blasphemy!) We had something better in mind…

We made our way to the World Showcase. In between the UK and Canada, we noticed an area devoted to promoting “Brave.” They had movie-inspired games set up, and it looked really cool, but we didn’t stop and play. At this point, Brave had only been out for a day. We hadn’t seen it, so we didn’t understand a lot of the references. I am a little ambivalent towards the new movie; while I am always happy for another Disney experience, I don’t know how I feel about Merida being a “princess.” As long as it is not too crowded, we want to check it out on our upcoming trip now that we have seen the movie!

Notice how empty the WS was. It was around 12:15 at this point, so I was surprised there wasn’t more of a lunchtime crowd!

Continuing on in search of food, we continued on to Japan because Ally wanted sushi. We had never been to the CS in Japan; it is really nice. The outdoor seating is so beautifully decorated. We opted against getting lunch here because my sister wasn’t sure what to get (she loves sushi, but knows nothing about it!) She was glad we checked it out though, and now she is excited to bring my mom here on future trips.

Having a slightly less adventurous appetite, I led the way to the American Adventure, where I got the chicken nuggets and a diet coke. My sister got a diet coke, and we found a table outside. The chicken nuggets and fries were delicious, as always, and the diet coke was refreshing. To our surprise, the Fife and Drum was extremely empty, both inside and outside, at this time. Where was everyone?!?

After I was finished eating, we did some shopping. I love the American tradition merchandise. To me, Disney epitomizes some of the best American values and traditions, so this merchandise is perfect! As we made our way through Mexico, we spotted Mexican Donald! We always seem to miss him, but today, he was out with virtually no line. We couldn’t believe our luck!

He’s so precious!

“Un abrazo” from Donald!

After this, we decided to head back to POR for a break. We hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and we wanted to spend a little time soaking in the resort and our amazing rooms. My sister still hadn’t eaten lunch, so she figured she would get something at the food court. On our way out, it took all of my willpower to avoid Mousegears, one of my favorite stores. I was trying to be somewhat frugal on this trip, and we already had plans for DTD the next morning.

We had considered taking a bus from Epcot to Art of Animation and having lunch in their food court before exploring the new resort. But we decided against it because we figured it would be best to wait until it was completely done and until we had the opportunity to stay there. We didn’t want to take away any of the magic from future stays.

We didn’t wait long for a bus, and in no time, we were back at POR. We met up with our parents, who had been at DTD. Ally walked through the food court, and while she was impressed by all their unique options, she decided to just grab a snack from Fulton’s. She settled on Chip and Dale pretzels, and we made our way back to our castle…err, I mean, our royal princess room.

Back in the room, we put on Stacey, showered, and relaxed for a little bit. We contemplated where to eat dinner. We really wanted to do a sit-sown dinner, but nothing too fancy. We debated the Plaza, Yak and Yeti, Tony’s, 50’s PT, Sci-Fi, and a few resort options. We pulled up Disney dining, and tried to find a reservation at the 11th hour….Any guesses on where we were headed?

Up Next: Dinner and our last few hours in a park

 

[brandihead2012]

On Board! So Jealous of your AP's! Great TR!

 

[PrincessBB]

On Board! So Jealous of your AP's! Great TR!

Thanks for reading!!

I officially have 3 readers. Wooooo!

 

[wdwtwins]

I'll be tagging in! I'm a twin too, I'm hoping that my sister and I will be able to do that too! I'm really enjoying this!

 

[PrincessBB]

I'll be tagging in! I'm a twin too, I'm hoping that my sister and I will be able to do that too! I'm really enjoying this!

Yaaay! Thanks for reading along! Glad to have a fellow twin reading!! I love doing Disney with my whole family, but Ally and I have this disney obsession that my parents just can't keep up with- so it's always tons of fun when just the two of us go. But it's also exhausting! lol

 

[wdwtwins]

Yaaay! Thanks for reading along! Glad to have a fellow twin reading!! I love doing Disney with my whole family, but Ally and I have this disney obsession that my parents just can't keep up with- so it's always tons of fun when just the two of us go. But it's also exhausting! lol

I can see where you're coming from! Haha have a fun upcoming trip(s)!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Really like your TR! Can't wait for more!

 

[PrincessBB]

Really like your TR! Can't wait for more!

Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I should have another update up by tomorrow, but in the meantime, I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July!!

 

[PrincessBB]

We had finally made a decision: Yak and Yeti, but within the time we opened the page and the time we clicked reserve – our spot got taken and there were no more ADRs.

So we went with option #2, and I’m so glad we did because it was delicious. Plus, AK was closing at 7, so option 2’s location made it a better choice. What was this second choice?... Sci-Fi!!

Back to DHS we went. We arrived around 5 because we had BIG plans before our 6:30 ADR. We decided to give TOT yet another try for the day. We were really determined to overcome our fear! The wait was an hour, longer than we wanted to wait, but the FP return time was between 6:05 and 7:05. We grabbed FPs even though we did not think we would have time to eat dinner and make it all the way back to the Hollywood Tower Hotel before our window closed (Another strike for the new FP enforcement!)

Because we slightly under-estimated the crowds, our big plans needed revising once again. We decided to pass the time with one of our favorite activities, shopping!! Can I just say how much I love the shops on Hollywood Boulevard?!? We spent quite a lot of time in the one that carries the TrenD-like merchandise! Everything was so cute!

By the time we finished, it was still a little too early for our ADR, but we decided to head over to Sci-Fi to check-in. There were a lot of people waiting when we arrived, but most of the people in line at the podium were being turned away because they didn’t have a reservation. We killed time by taking an obligatory photo (wish we could’ve gotten one of us together!) and browsing in the Writer’s Shop.

They called, err…I mean “parked”, us around 6:10. Our parking attendant directed us to the back row of another family’s car, so we were affectionately called “hitchhikers” for the rest of our meal. I don’t think the family in front of us even knew we were there until the end of our meal.

Anyway, have I mentioned how much I looooove the theming and atmosphere of this place?! It’s perfect! I wish I could eat all of my meals in a “car.” We eventually met our waitress, who was fine (but not exactly friendly). And a few short movie clips later, our food was there.

I ordered the buffalo chicken potato skins and water, and Ally ordered a veggie burger (with no balsamic vinegar) and water. Then we switched sides. She took my celery while I took her fries (you can switch out cucumber salad or sweet potato fries that come with it for regular fries.) Can you tell which twin is the healthy eater (even in Disney!!)?!

OMG – We both agreed that my potato skins were the best things in the entire world!! If you love buffalo sauce, try them. So yummy! Ally said her veggie burger was really good too.

It’s blurry, but I still like it!!

We finished up, paid, and tried to take some pictures. But the lighting makes pictures pretty much impossible on my little camera. They were all either blurry, too dark, or my flash washed out the whole background. Oh well…

What an amazing dinner!! Now would we make our TOT fast pass time or just miss it?