Bougie Birthday Trip - March 2021! *First update 10/9 x2!*

[paradesintherain]

Hey everyone! Welcome to the Bougie Birthday Trip!

I’m Kara. I’ve written a few Trip Reports before, I’ve got all the links in my signature if you feel like checking them out. It’s been a couple years since I’ve written one though, and I’ve been pretty absent from the Dis, in general lately. However, I’ve got a trip coming up in December that I’m really excited about and that makes me want to talk about Disney all the time, so what better way the a Trip Report?


So, as we all know, there was a no-fun pandemic that began in March 2020. My birthday is March 9, and March 9, 2020 my dad bought me a voucher for a Disney World Annual Pass. But then the pandemic happened and travel DIDN’T happen. Oh, and I’m a nurse, so there was a lot of stress and anxiety, and until I got the vaccine I didn’t really feel safe traveling, hence why my first time using my AP was March 2021.


I booked a trip for March 5-10 so I could spend my birthday in Disney, then my friend and fellow Dis-er, Molly (@Mollydolly334), reached out to a group of us and asked if anyone would want to join her for a few days after a bachelorette girl’s trip she was taking. That conveniently ended March 1, so the Disney math just made sense! I quickly planned to extend my trip from March 1-10.


Since neither of us had really traveled in a year we decided we wanted to splurge on our stay. We toyed around with renting points, but in the end neither of us felt comfortable with the lack of flexibility that lent use, so we ended up booking a Polynesian Villa (the resort side was still closed) for the first two days, and a standard view Yacht Club room for the last two days together. For the 5th-10th I had Pop Century booked. I was a little worried about going from Deluxe to Value, but you’ll have to read along to see if that ended up feeling like a downgrade!


We were also lucky enough to be traveling at the same time as Su-Lynn and Steve so we made plans to meet up with them as well, we even had some overlapping days (or maybe it was day, hard to remember now) at the Yacht Club!!



Let’s do some brief introductions:

This is me, Kara!

I turned 34 on this trip! I briefly mentioned before that I’m a nurse. I work on a renal/telemetry floor and because the patients we have are so immunocompromised my floor was kept “clean” from COVID patients. Still, the pandemic brought on a lot of stressful changes, and we’ve been incredibly short staffed so it was a hard year.

I have 2 cats, Princess Leia, and Merida. We currently live in Kansas City. I travel to Disney a lot with my dad, and as a matter of fact, he just bought into DVC at the Riviera, and put me on the contract, so I’m technically a DVC owner now!

My favorite theme park has often been Hollywood Studios. I had some different thoughts about Hollywood Studios while visiting during a pandemic. My favorite resort is Animal Kingdom Lodge (though Riviera really won me over in a big way on our May trip). My favorite rides are Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror.


Then, there’s Molly! She lives in Wisconsin and we actually met and became friends through the Disboard when we both went on the Epic trip!

And last but not least, Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey) and Steve! Although I’m struggling to find any pictures of Steve. Just go read Su-Lynn’s lovely TRs!

So, to sum it up:
When: March 1-10, 2021
Why: My birthday and finally feeling safe to travel!
Where: Polynesian Villa, Yacht Club, and Pop Century
How: Southwest Airlines
Who: Me, Molly, Su-Lynn, and Steve


Bear with me, the introduction is my least favorite part, and I can't guarantee it, but I THINK things will improve from here! ​

 

[paradesintherain]

Table of Contents

1. March 1 - Arrival Day!
2. March 1 - part 2, Magic Kingdom!​

 

[footballmouse]

eagerly waiting for more, need something to read while I'm at work.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm here!! I'm so happy you're back on the DIS!!! I already wrote about this trip but happy to relive part of it through your eyes!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Yay for a new TR!!! So excited to read along. I have stayed at Port Orleans twice, but otherwise we've always stayed at Pop Century. I'm curious to hear how it stands up to your deluxe stays during the same trip

 

[Mollydolly334]

YAYYYY!! So excited to re-live our amazing bougie trip!!!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Yay, so excited to see you writing a TR again. I am excited to hear all about it. How fun to travel with Molly, she is so fun to tour WDW with and she is an awesome roommate! Andi and I have met up with Su-Lynn, Steve and Molly since the Epic trip and it is always delightful.

As you know, I am a nurse as well and what a rough 18 months this has been, yuck Disney is our happy place.
Excited for your December trip since we get to hang out!

 

[Bama Mom]

jumping in to follow along. How fun for your dad and you to be DVC owners now. Maybe one day I will talk hubby into it. He isn't into Disney and just goes to appease me. I seriously need some Disney friends who understand the love/obsession.

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[Chief Powhatan]

Congrats on DVC for you and your dad. I kept getting the DVC emails about Riviera and I was tempted. Looking forward to reading your trip report!

 

[GDubDIS]

Excited to follow along! I live with an emergency medicine physician and I know how difficult the nursing shortage has been and how much the remaining nurses have had to pick up extra work, all on top of an emotionally taxing time as well. If anyone deserves a bougie Disney trip it's nurses like you!

 

[fallonkendra]

Yay for a new trip report! Can’t wait to hear all about it!

 

[cajunfan]

Can't wait to read more!

 

[paradesintherain]

I'm so pleasantly surprised at how many of you want to let me relive my March trip. It means a lot to me that you're all here!

eagerly waiting for more, need something to read while I'm at work.

Thanks so much for joining in! Hopefully I'll give you lots of good content to read at work!

I'm here!! I'm so happy you're back on the DIS!!! I already wrote about this trip but happy to relive part of it through your eyes!

Yay, hi Su-Lynn!! I loved reading your report on it, it was such a magical trip!

Yay for a new TR!!! So excited to read along. I have stayed at Port Orleans twice, but otherwise we've always stayed at Pop Century. I'm curious to hear how it stands up to your deluxe stays during the same trip

hey Jackie! Thanks for reading! I really love Pop Century, but I was still worried it wouldn't feel nice after a Deluxe...

YAYYYY!! So excited to re-live our amazing bougie trip!!!

Molly!! Are you using the Dis again in anticipation of your November trip? I hope you write a TR for it!

Yay, so excited to see you writing a TR again. I am excited to hear all about it. How fun to travel with Molly, she is so fun to tour WDW with and she is an awesome roommate! Andi and I have met up with Su-Lynn, Steve and Molly since the Epic trip and it is always delightful.

As you know, I am a nurse as well and what a rough 18 months this has been, yuck Disney is our happy place.
Excited for your December trip since we get to hang out!

Hi, Caroline! I'm glad you're here! It was so fun and easy traveling with Molly! And of course Su-Lynn and Steve are just the best.

It has been the roughest 18 months, can't even believe we're still standing. We DESERVE this December trip, and I've enjoyed talking to you so much! I cannot wait to hang out in person!

jumping in to follow along. How fun for your dad and you to be DVC owners now. Maybe one day I will talk hubby into it. He isn't into Disney and just goes to appease me. I seriously need some Disney friends who understand the love/obsession.

Hello again! I never thought my dad would do DVC either (although he does love Disney) so maybe there's hope for you and your husband!

I can be your Disney friend!!

Following!

Thanks for joining

Congrats on DVC for you and your dad. I kept getting the DVC emails about Riviera and I was tempted. Looking forward to reading your trip report!

Thank you, I can't even believe it! It's something I never even dreamed about. Thanks for reading my report, maybe I'll include some from my May trip at the Riviera too!

Excited to follow along! I live with an emergency medicine physician and I know how difficult the nursing shortage has been and how much the remaining nurses have had to pick up extra work, all on top of an emotionally taxing time as well. If anyone deserves a bougie Disney trip it's nurses like you!

Thanks for joining in, glad to have you here! Oh wow, I bet they've seen some stuff in these past 18 months. It's been a wild ride. But it did play into my thinking I deserved to splurge a bit!

Yay for a new trip report! Can’t wait to hear all about it!

Hi Fallon!! So glad you're here, I hope we can plan to meet up at Disney again sometime soon!

Can't wait to read more!

Hey!! How have you been? Glad you found your way here!

 

[paradesintherain]

March 1 - Arrival day!


I had booked an early morning flight on my favorite airline, Southwest. Pretty sure it was the 8:50 am nonstop. Getting up that early for a flight is rough anyway but I happen to work nights so this was brutal! I couldn’t fall asleep the night before my flight, and by the time I drifted off I only got 2 hours of sleep. Oh well, who needs sleep for Disney?


The good news about an 8:50 flight is there’s no traffic. The airport is an easy 15 minute drive from my apartment and I got there with plenty of time to spare. Now, this trip happened back in March when masks were still full force and they hadn’t said that vaccinated people didn’t need to wear masks. This was my first time flying in a year, so I was a little nervous. When I parked my car and got on the airport shuttle the first family I encountered wasn’t wearing masks. I was worried that wasn’t a promising start, but in the end I felt pretty safe and most people seemed compliant with the mask rules.


Here’s my Away suitcases on the shuttle. I’m pretty much an Away advertisement when I travel!

There were no issues boarding the plane, and I was lucky enough not to have someone seated in the middle seat. I watched the second to last episode of WandaVision "Previously On" for the 5th time and my notes say that I cried for the 5th time. What can I say, it’s an emotional episode!

The flight is about 2.5 hours so at 11:40ish am I landed in Orlando! And proceeded to pick up my own luggage like a peasant, since Magical Express was no longer doing that. Thanks Disney!


I rode the fake-o-rail, as one does at MCO.

And navigated my way to DME WITHOUT getting lost. Believe me, that’s a big accomplishment for me! And luckily, I was met with a very empty DME waiting area. Side note, that was not the case when my family went in May. The line went almost to the opposite side of that long hall, and we ultimately opted to get a Lyft then.

I boarded my bus in about 10 minutes, and had one stop at Ft. Wilderness, and I got to see the horses at the ranch! In no time at all I was arriving at Pago Pago in Polynesian Village. The resort was undergoing construction in the Grand Ceremonial Hall so Pago Pago was serving as the front desk area. But Molly was already there in the room after having said goodbye to her bachelorette friends, so I just headed straight to our room, which was Tokelau 2931. There was something so magical about arriving to the Polynesian after a long, and stressful year.

I thought this little lobby in Tokelau was so cute.

Molly was in the room and we gave each other big hugs and caught up. It was so pleasant and easy! The first thing I did was check out the view, which did not disappoint. It’s so lush and that pink tree was so gorgeous!

I snapped some quick pictures of the rest of the room. The DVC room was spacious and decorated very nicely. It blew my mind that the studio came with two bathrooms, but it was quite useful for us when getting ready in the morning.

It’ll be so nice when the DVC rooms get rid of the sofa beds in favor of the Murphy beds!

Molly was enjoying the view as I settled in.

On our FaceTime calls to plan the trip we had decided to take a more relaxed approach to touring, so we sat in the room chatting for a while, and then decided to go take a dip in the pool and have an alcoholic beverage!


I waved hello to the room I stayed at with my Dad on a previous birthday trip. All the non-DVC rooms were undergoing renovations to Moana-themed rooms, so the windows were all blacked out.

Molly and I opted to try the Volcano Pool first. I’ve gotta say it was such a nice way to start a vacation! It was already a pretty warm day and I was quite tired from travel so the water was perfect. And after a year of stress and anxiety I felt like I could finally unwind.

My first drink of the trip was a mojito! These drinks are pretty simple, but so refreshing and I love getting them when I’m at Disney World. I think Molly got a margarita, but I have no photographic evidence of that.

We relaxed at a table and listened to Disney trivia. They’d play a snippet of a song, and then we had to guess what the song was. Molly was really good at this, but the little girl next to us was even better! When we were done with our drinks we swam around the pool and caught up some more. Molly told me about how her trip had been going so far, and it sounded like a lot of fun, but I think she was ready to relax a bit and not be the cruise director anymore!

Once we had gotten enough of the pool we mobile ordered some nachos from Capt Cook’s, and I picked up a mug. Now, I've always liked mobile ordering, but I did find it a bit annoying that it was basically the only way to order food, especially at the resorts. But only a little annoying. Nachos in hand, we went back to our room to enjoy them get ready for the evening. This view never failed to make my heart happy!

I liked these nachos more than I had in the past. I know they're fan favorites, but I don't tend to like mixing fruit with my savory food. This time it worked for me, though, I might just have been really hungry.

Pulled Pork Nachos: Topped with Cheese, Spicy Mayonnaise, Pico de Gallo, and Pineapple Salsa


After eating we got ready and made our way through the gorgeous Polynesian grounds to the boat dock. I still couldn't believe that I was on vacation! With a friend! At the Polynesian! AND we were on our way to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Su-Lynn and Steve!

The boats might be my favorite form of travel, especially the little wooden ones that are commonly used at the Polynesian. Unfortunately this time they were using some loud, metal boat. These were repurposed from somewhere else, but I can’t remember where the Captain told me. Anyway, no pictures cause it wasn’t quite as magical!


You know what is magical? Arriving to the Magic Kingdom after a year of stress and anxiety. Starting to feel normal about again after a year of no normal! This was also my first experience with temperature checks and the new metal detectors. Even though I’m all for safety precautions, I felt the temperature checks were really just for show because people can be sick and not have a temperature. However, the checks were quick. The new metal detectors were very nice and I only had an issue with them once!

And there’s the castle! Looking especially beautiful with a shiny new paint job.

Right away we were greeted by the Main Street Philharmonic.

Up next: a lovely evening in the Magic Kingdom with friends!​

 

[suse66]

Hi Kara! So excited to hear all about your birthday trip!

The good news about an 8:50 flight is there’s no traffic. The airport is an easy 15 minute drive from my apartment and I got there with plenty of time to spare. Now, this trip happened back in March when masks were still full force and they hadn’t said that vaccinated people didn’t need to wear masks. This was my first time flying in a year, so I was a little nervous. When I parked my car and got on the airport shuttle the first family I encountered wasn’t wearing masks. I was worried that wasn’t a promising start, but in the end I felt pretty safe and most people seemed compliant with the mask rules.

I felt the same way when I flew for the first time in July. Luckily mask compliance is really good here.

I boarded my bus in about 10 minutes, and had one stop at Ft. Wilderness, and I got to see the horses at the ranch! In no time at all I was arriving at Pago Pago in Polynesian Village. The resort was undergoing construction in the Grand Ceremonial Hall so Pago Pago was serving as the front desk area. But Molly was already there in the room after having said goodbye to her bachelorette friends, so I just headed straight to our room, which was Tokelau 2931. There was something so magical about arriving to the Polynesian after a long, and stressful year.

It is just the best feeling! I am so glad you were able to take this trip to your happy place!

On our FaceTime calls to plan the trip we had decided to take a more relaxed approach to touring, so we sat in the room chatting for a while, and then decided to go take a dip in the pool and have an alcoholic beverage!

No better way to start a trip!

Once we had gotten enough of the pool we mobile ordered some nachos from Capt Cook’s, and I picked up a mug. Now, I've always liked mobile ordering, but I did find it a bit annoying that it was basically the only way to order food, especially at the resorts. But only a little annoying. Nachos in hand, we went back to our room to enjoy them get ready for the evening. This view never failed to make my heart happy!

Love your view!

 

[fallonkendra]

What a great start to your trip!

That shower is the room is so nice! And that view! That pink tree is so pretty!

Sounds like a great relaxing way to start your vacation, nothing better than some pool time, alcohol and great friends <3

Hopefully I’llget to travel to Disney again one day with all of you guys!

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a wonderful travel day, relaxing at the pool with Molly and such a beautiful resort! I love your balcony view!
I have to get the pork nachos in December, I love these and haven’t had these in so long!
This trip sounds like it was just what the doctor ordered!!

 

[paradesintherain]

Hi Kara! So excited to hear all about your birthday trip!

Hi Susan!!

I felt the same way when I flew for the first time in July. Luckily mask compliance is really good here.

Canada is smarter, it's just facts Mask compliance is very iffy here now but really travel is where I get the most nervous because you're stuck next to those people for hours!

It is just the best feeling! I am so glad you were able to take this trip to your happy place!

It really is, and I'm so glad you were able to return after so long!

No better way to start a trip!

It was perfect, I usually hit the ground running, so it was a nice change of pace.

Love your view!

Me too, it was absolutely perfect. I only wish we had more time in that room!

What a great start to your trip!

That shower is the room is so nice! And that view! That pink tree is so pretty!

Sounds like a great relaxing way to start your vacation, nothing better than some pool time, alcohol and great friends <3

Hopefully I’llget to travel to Disney again one day with all of you guys!

It was a fabulous start to the trip, I couldn't have asked for anything better.

The bathrooms at Poly were so nice, and the pink tree was pretty much my favorite thing ever. I still watch videos I took from the balcony and it makes me so happy.

It was the perfect start, I'm so glad it all worked out.

I really hope we do all get to meet up again, and I'd love to see your daughter experience Disney, she's such a doll!

What a wonderful travel day, relaxing at the pool with Molly and such a beautiful resort! I love your balcony view!
I have to get the pork nachos in December, I love these and haven’t had these in so long!
This trip sounds like it was just what the doctor ordered!!

The view couldn't be beat.

I have so much food I want to eat in December, I'm for sure going to run out of time and stomach space.

The trip was just what the doctor ordered, I was finally feeling like a real human being again.

 

[paradesintherain]

March 1 - part 2, Magic Kingdom!





So, Molly and I had just arrived to Magic Kingdom to meet up with Su-Lynn (@chunkymonkey) and Steve and we were making our way down Main Street. We (or maybe it was mostly me) admired the castle a lot, it was finally starting to sink in that we were there! The castle was walk through was open so through the castle we went! Kind of novel to be able to do that, since a lot of the time the castle stage show blocks it. Some benefits to reduced entertainment!

Su-Lynn and Steve weren't in Magic Kingdom yet so I decided I wanted my first ride to be Haunted Mansion. Few rides encapsulate that Disney magic more, perfect first ride back!

We attempted to recreate our photo from the Epic trip.

For reference. We clearly weren’t prepared for the photo! It was maybe the funniest PhotoPass of the Epic trip!

Full disclosure, I didn’t take many notes at all on this trip, so this is all from memory and based on pictures. The line for Space Mountain was short, of course we decided to ride it!

Got a peek at that Tron construction!

Pretty quickly we realized that Space Mountain had gone down, and rather than take our chances, we decided to leave the line and meet up with Su-Lynn and Steve, who had just arrived in the park! They kindly picked us up some coffee at Starbucks, which was great because I was starting to drag. Su-Lynn had lots of Starbucks gift cards from her birthday that week so she intended to gift us with some coffee but I Venmo'd her and ruined the gift! Regardless, picking up that coffee for me was a lifesaver!


We met up with them, coffee in hand, in front of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. I hadn’t seen them since the Epic trip back in May 2019, so it was great to catch up with again!

A Chunky mine train!

Next up was Winnie the Pooh!

I got a new iPhone before the trip, and I was thrilled with the photos it was capable of taking so this report will be quite photo heavy (who am I kidding, I always take tons of photos). With sunsets like this, who can resist, though?

Molly looking lovely in Fantasyland!

Our next stop was a flight over Neverland! Fun fact, in Spanish, you can fly is translated to volarás which means “you will fly”. Neverland is translated as "El pais de nunca jamas" = the land of never ever. There's your Spanish lesson for the day!

It was so lovely out!

Rivers of America was looking like the perfect backdrop for a picture, and Steve kindly obliged. Gotta smile with your eyes, smyze!

We had time and energy for one more ride so Pirates of the Caribbean it was! Has anyone noticed the cannon splashes have gotten a lot splashier?

Pirate Princesses, arghhhh

Bye for now, Magic Kingdom!

Su-Lynn and Steve were having dinner at the Grand Floridian so we said goodbye to them for the night. Molly really wanted to check out Geyser Point at Wilderness Lodge so we hopped on a boat to check out their wait. Wilderness Lodge at night is so really transports you to a Northwestern lodge, I just love it!

Unfortunately they had about a 45 minute wait and I just didn’t think I could wait that long, I was crashing! I hated to keep Molly from something she wanted to do, but she was fine with going back to the Polynesian and finding dinner there. We opted to do a mobile take-out order for Kona Cafe. That was a nice new option they were doing for some of the table service restaurants, and I thought it worked out wonderfully.

We got our food quickly, and went to Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace, which was still closed, to eat our food. Here’s our blurry nighttime feast! We got a sushi roll, dumplings, and wings to share. Plus they gave us fresh bread.

Just some sushi…

It was a wonderful way to end the day, and those pot stickers were delicious! I’d never eaten dinner at Kona Cafe, so it was also nice to try something new. After our dinner I showered and went straight to bed, happy and exhausted.



Up Next: Naaaaants ingonyama bagithi baba .... Animal Kingdom here we come!​