Breaking Our Disney Traditions and Some Moonlight Magic - Jan/Feb Mother Daughter TR

[disneyworldprincess]

Welcome folks!!

My name is Madison, and I'll be your Jungle Cruise stripper- uh... skipper today here on the world-famous Jungle Cruise. I could also be your alligator wrestler and swimming instructor if you're not careful. So please be careful.

Wait, this isn't my Jungle Cruise skipper audition?

Well, then let me introduce myself! I'm Madison, the skipper for all intensive purposes on this journey of a trip report that will re-tell all the excitement and details of this mother/daughter trip to the happiest place on earth. We will laugh together, cry together, and get to experience the magic together during this journey.

I've been lurking here on the DIS for ages now and figured it was finally time I wrote a trip report, which I have been meaning to do for ages, but as life would have it, I just haven't had a chance to get around to writing one. Bear with me please as I try to make this have the least amount of terrible puns I can restrain myself from including while still making this entertaining for you to read. So if you're still around, grab your favorite snack, a drink, a cozy blanket, some pixie dust, and let's get this show on the road with the who, what, why, and when of this adventure.​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Jungle Navigation Center

The Jungle Explorers

Day 0​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Jungle Explorers

Madison

First off, there's me, Madison. I'll be the narrator of this trip report. I'm a recent college graduate who, somehow, survived nursing school. By day, I'm a corgi loving, Disney obsessed, Netflix binging type of girl. By night, for the last six months anyway, I'm an emergency room nurse. I've been going to Disney World since I was three years old. My family and I have made yearly trips to the happiest place on earth for most of my life. Some years, we have even made up to three trips in a year. What can I say? Disney runs in my blood at this point. No matter how many times I go to Disney, I never get tired of the magical moments and fun we always have while we are there!

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom​

Favorite Ride: Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise
Favorite Disney Character: Mr. Fredrickson
Favorite Disney Movie: Zootopia, Ratatouille, UP
Favorite Disney Snack: Pineapple Vanilla Dole Whip Swirl​

Mom

This is my partner in crime for this trip and one of the two people who fostered my love for all things Disney. For our last three trips, we have enjoyed going as a mother/daughter duo and didn't blink an eye at the chance to go for a fourth time together! She has also been to Disney too many times to count. Her and my dad enjoy Disney so much, that in 2007 or 2008 they decided to become Disney Vacation Club members, paving the way for even more magical vacations in the future. Mom also lurks on the DIS here and agreed I should write a trip report for this trip and will probably be reading this also, so hi Mom!

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Splash Mountain, TTA
Favorite Disney Character: Sadness
Favorite Disney Movie: Inside Out, Dumbo
Favorite Disney Snack: Dole Whip Float

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Up next we'll go into the specifics of this expedition of ours and finally get to the storytelling of our time in Disney!​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Day 0: January 26, 2018
"Let's get up at 3am, it's not like we can sleep anyways."

If you've been following along with my PTR (if not, you can catch up here), you know that Mom had been at my apartment since January 23rd. We were awake around 6 or 7am. The night before I had fallen asleep super early and woke up feeling somewhat rested and beyond excited. Tomorrow we were going to Disney World!

Mom made us chocolate chip pancakes and bacon for breakfast and we ate while watching Disney vlogs on YouTube. After breakfast, I showered and we thought of a couple of last minute things we needed at Target and headed out. Of course, Target was out of the cold medicine we went to get in case one of us got sick on the trip, but we picked up a few extra things and headed back to my apartment. After getting back home, we put away the things we got at Target and I made us some chicken nachos for lunch.

Shortly after, Mom got her shower and we started one last load of laundry. We packed up my suitcase, laid out our clothes for the next day, and got our overnight bag for Saratoga Springs ready to go. Everything was loaded into the car and we spent the afternoon lounging around my apartment. I passed time straightening my hair, doing mine and Mom's nails, and playing some games. Before too long, it was time for dinner.

Mom made us some turkey and cheese paninis that we ate while we watched Alaska State Troopers. We cleaned up the kitchen and waited for my dad to call us after he got off work. We talked to him for a little bit and after we got off the phone, we both decided to head to bed. At this point, it was around 8 pm and we had decided to wake up around 3:45 am. Since I was still in the process of flipping my sleep schedule back to a "day routine," I knew I'd be up early. Plus, can anyone actually sleep well the night before leaving for Disney?! I took some melatonin to help me sleep and I was out before I even knew it. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep dreaming of all the dole whips, rides, and fun we were about to have! ​

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Following along! Mother-daughter trips are the best!!

 

[CaseFace5]

Following along! I also just got back from a January Mother/Daughter trip!!

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Day 1, Part 1: January 27, 2018
"It's Disney Day!"​

The day I been looking forward to for months had finally come. It was Disney Day!!

I woke up on my own and rolled over to check the time on my phone. I was shocked to see that it was 2:59 am. Working night shift and flipping between a "night schedule" and "day schedule" constantly has done wonders rotfl for my sleep cycle, meaning I'm usually up at various hours of the morning. I knew that since I was up, there was no going back to sleep. I settled on watching whatever was on TV and before too long, Mom was up before the alarm went off too. We decided to get up and get ready since there was no chance of us falling back to sleep. I mean, who can sleep when they will be in Disney in a few hours?!

Mom showered and I quickly did my makeup so I could finish packing up my part of the toiletries bag. While Mom was doing her makeup, I got dressed and had a muffin for breakfast. The muffin was beyond disappointing and was glad Mom thought so too and suggested we should stop and get breakfast along the way. I knew we'd be starving if we didn't so I was beyond glad to take a few minutes of our travel time to stop and get us something. We called dad around 4 am to make sure he was up for work and finished loading up the car with our bags. With our matching Disney monogram shirts on, travel drinks in hand, GPS set up, Disney playlist going, and MagicBands on, we were ready to hit the road!

On the way out of my apartment complex, we took out the trash and realized we had left some things in my apartment, so we drove back to my building and Mom ran in to get everything while I waited in the car. Finally, around 4:45 am we were on the way to Disney! We started heading towards I-75 and stopped to get gas in the middle of nowhere. I knew it'd be easier to stop and fill up here rather than somewhere off the interstate, so I braced the cold and in a few minutes we were back on the road and dreaming of the Chick-fil-A breakfast that awaited us.

After about 45 minutes since we left my apartment, we were on I-75 and heading towards Macon. We had decided to stop and get breakfast along I-475. Luckily, a few miles in, we saw an exit with a Chick-fil-A and decided to see if they were open. It was only 6:15 am at this point I was skeptical that they'd be open, but luck was on our side and they were! A few minutes of waiting later and we were chowing down on chicken biscuits and hash rounds while we drove. Then, as we reached the end of 475, the most depressing announcement was made from my GPS.

"Drive 310 miles on I-75 south to Florida's Turnpike"

Like, I just wanted to be at Disney already! We settled in and kept on driving through the nothingness that is South Georgia. We only hit a little traffic in Warner Robbins thanks to road construction, but everything else was smooth sailing, as not many people were driving through when we were. Luckily, we had our day to plan out. Since we hadn't added on our extra day of tickets yet, we couldn't make FastPasses for the day. Mom and I discussed what we would want to ride at Epcot since we had a lunch at 2:50 scheduled for Via Napoli. We decided to just wait and see what was open when we got there and enjoyed singing and dancing along to my Disney playlist.

Then, finally, around 8:50 am, we crossed into Florida! We stopped for a quick bathroom break at the Welcome Center just down the road from the state line and was back on the road in no time! At this point, we broke into the snack we brought and Mom began to check wait times and the weather while I drove. Traffic in Florida wasn't bad until we got to Ocala. For some reason, traffic always gets heavier out of nowhere. I don't know what it is, but both Mom and I have noticed this the past couple of times we have driven down. All was well though because we were only an hour away from Disney at this point!

Before long, we were on the Turnpike and decided to stop at the Okahumpa Service Plaza to get gas so we didn't have to deal with trying to stop later on in the week. After a few minutes, we were on the way again and started to go through all the toll booths and finally started seeing Disney World signs.

Finally, after almost 7 hours in the car, at 11:43 am, we saw this beauty.

Mom and I were beyond excited! We were finally on Disney property again and headed to our home for the night, Saratoga Springs. Even though this is our DVC home resort, we had only stayed here once or twice in the past, so we were excited to explore the resort and stay here for the night! Navigating to the Disney Springs resort area didn't take terribly long and by 12:05 we had gotten to the resort.

When we arrived at the security gate, they gave directions to check in at the Carriage House, but no parking slip. Since we had done online check-in and hadn't gotten a text about our room either being ready or not ready, Mom and I decided to stop in and ask at the front desk about the room and parking situation. We spoke to a cast member in the lobby and turns out, at Saratoga anyways, parking slips are no longer needed. With that squared away, we headed to the front desk and got a pleasant surprise since our room was ready! Luckily we had decided to go inside, or we would have been waiting for the text or email that our room was ready for a while. Our next stop was the concierge to add on an extra day to our tickets. The lady at concierge said we couldn't add on an extra day at the hotel and would need to do it at the park. With everything squared away, we headed over to Congress Park, where our room was located.

I didn't grab any other photos of the resort or our room besides this one. Terrible, I know, but I was too excited to be at Disney. Mom and I commented on how cute Saratoga was and headed up to our room on the third floor with our toiletries bag and overnight bag. We explored the room, took a bathroom break, and grabbed our MagicBands for the second part of the stay. Luckily Mom thought of the fact that our park tickets were on our original bands, so we need those to get into the parks and need out MagicBands for this stay to get back into our room and use it for our Dining Plan for the night.

With our bladders empty, park bag ready to go, and our stomachs growling for lunch, we headed off for our first park of the trip, Epcot!

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Thanks to everyone who is following along so far! I hope you enjoy reading this new update. Sorry for the cliffhanger! I have to work a shift tonight and need to get started on dinner and getting ready. Hopefully, I'll have some extra time before I head off to work to finish up day one!
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