Disneyland die hards take on WDW! A first timer/college grad/ proud mommy...FUN!

[spiroff.natasha]

Welcome to our Trip Report!

The title pretty much says it all...we are three Disneyland die hards who decided to take a trip to WDW! We had an extra magical trip and can't wait to share it with all of you!

Enjoy!


Table of Contents

Cast of Characters
Travel
Checking in and DTD
Morning at MK
We are in the parade!
Evening at MK
Arriving at Hollywood Studios...twice!
A day in Hollywood...and the start of our Vinylmation adventures!
A magical (and crazy) night!
Ohana Breakfast
Interruption in Trip Report...our day trip to Disneyland

 

[spiroff.natasha]

First off we have Keri, my wonderful mommy (mauigal here on the DIS). She is a 40-something lover of all things Disney! She has worked in the airline industry for 10+ years and we are all lucky enough to reap the benefits that come along with the job (free flights, discounted hotel rooms, etc )! She is the mastermind behind this trip and I couldn't be more thankful! I credit her with my Disney obsession....she got me started at a young age! We are travelling buddies and always have a great time together. She is a Disneyland annual passholder. Her favorite character is and her favorite ride at WDW is Space Mountain.

Next up is Anna, another 40-something Disney fanatic and longtime friend of my mom. Anna was born and raised in CA and has been a Disneyland AP holder for years but has never been to WDW!!! She has only been on a plane once before and I couldn't be more excited to have her with us on this trip! It is always so exciting to share WDW with people who have never been before...it's like experiencing it all for the first time again yourself! Her favorite characters (couldn't pick just one) are Belle and Mickey and her favorite rides at Disneyland (again, couldn't just pick one) are Splash Mountain and Space Mountain.

And then there is me. My name is Natasha, I am 21 and a brand new college graduate! The hospital room that I was born in overlooked the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA so I think I was destined to love Disney I have been a lurker for years and I am very excited to be posting my very own TR. My favorite character is Ariel and my favorite ride at WDW (ahhh this is so hard to choose...) is probably Toy Story Mania

We were at WDW from May 17-24 and stayed at Pop Century

 

[spiroff.natasha]

Our travel experience is sort of non-traditional so I want to explain a little before I go on… my mom used to work for the airlines and one of the AMAZING perks that comes with that is free flights We have definitely taken advantage of these benefits and this trip was no exception The way that it works is we list ourselves for a flight and then once the plane is boarded, we are assigned any open seats.

In the weeks leading up to our trip, the nonstop flights from LAX to Orlando were WIDE open and then for some reason the morning that we wanted to leave they were overbooked! Originally, Anna was going to use a buddy pass and fly standby with us (for about $300) but on Delta, buddies are put on the very bottom of the list so the chances of all three of us getting on the flight were very low. As the trip got closer and the flights didn’t start opening up my mom looked up the price for a confirmed seat on the nonstop and it was only $60 more than what Anna would be paying for the buddy pass so she went ahead and purchased the confirmed ticket (and with that some peace of mind ).

On Monday morning we left for the airport bright and early (actually, not so bright since it was still dark outside hehe) The flights never really opened up so my mom and I decided to fly from LAX to Minneapolis and then try to hop on the flight from MSP to Orlando. We were given seats for the flight to Minneapolis so we said our goodbyes to Anna (her flight wasn’t for another 3 hours) and jumped on the plane. Oh – and we saw the blonde girl from iCarly boarding the flight next to us haha


The flight to MSP was pretty uneventful but that all changed once we landed. The flight was late getting to the gate and we literally had ten minutes to get from one side of the airport to the other!!! We started RUNNING with all our might – we wanted to get to the mouse! Luckily we saw one of those carts and jumped on it and he floored it to our gate While on the cart my mom called the gate (she used to work at this airport and still remembered the phone numbers to the gates) and let the agent know that we were on our way! We made it JUST in time and took the last two seats on the plane (in the last two rows lol)

Now remember, we left Anna in LA to wait for her nonstop flight. This was only her second flight EVER (and the first was from LA to Vegas which hardly counts since its only about 30 min). She did fine on the 5 hour flight though Both of our planes landed at the same time and we easily met up in the terminal. We were finally there!!!

After riding our first monorail of the trip, my mom went to pick up our rental car while Anna and I went to baggage claim to collect the bags that we checked. Everything went very smoothly and then we were on our way to the POP!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

We arrived at the POP and were all very excited! I absolutely LOVE the smell of the place….feels like home

My mom had requested building 3 (50’s section) top floor, lake view, corner room – a very specific request because we stayed there in October and it was PERFECT! The cast members at POP did an awesome job and we had the same exact room just one floor down

We got ourselves settled into the room and headed to Downtown Disney!

The three of us were starving by the time we got there – poor Anna couldn’t eat the whole day (or the night before) because she was nervous/excited! For dinner we headed to Earl of Sandwich. My mom got the BLT, Anna got the Hawaiian BBQ and I got the All American. YUM

After dinner we walked around DTD, looked at pins (Anna is a big pin-trader) and then headed over to the store where you can create your own ears and shirts! We didn’t remember seeing this on our last trip but had read about it on the DIS so we were excited to check it out. Anna ended up making a shirt and was told she could come pick it up the next day.

When Anna was done making her shirt, the store was closing so we decided to head back to the POP and get some sleep.

Up next: Our extra magical day at the Magic Kingdom!

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

Love your pictures! The one of you 3 at the airport is great! I've never stayed at Pop before, so I'm looking to hearing all about it. One of my aunts used to work for an airline, so we would get buddy passes from her when we were younger. I remember the stress of checking daily to see how many seats were still available as we got close to trips, so I'm glad you all made it there on time and together!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

On our first full day in Orlando we headed to the Magic Kingdom! After getting up and getting ready for the day we headed down to Everything Pop for some breakfast. I know this is totally weird but I LOVE the oatmeal at the POP! I had it every day on our trip in October and have been looking forward to having more since we left! Needless to say I was super excited for breakfast this morning and ran straight to the station that was serving oatmeal. It was as delicious as I remembered and I was glad to not have been let down Anna and my mom got Mickey Waffles!

After breakfast we headed over to the Magic Kingdom! We got an amazing parking spot (thanks to my mom’s expert swooping abilities) and excitedly hurried over to catch the ferry. I love riding the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom, it adds a special element to the park But before catching the ferry, Anna signed her name with chalk…

The three of us were SO excited to be there and started taking pictures on the ferry…

Once in the park, Anna grabbed a “First Visit” pin and I got a “I’m Celebrating” pin (for my college graduation). Now, the three of us all have a special place in our hearts for Disneyland but have to admit that our castle is sort of pitiful compared to the one at Magic Kingdom. We ooohhhed and aaahhhed and the beautiful, huge castle (and took a million pictures) as we headed down Main Street.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Anna is a pin-trader. For this trip she brought along a small pin book with a bunch of Disneyland pins so that she could trade for pins exclusive to Disneyworld. So as we are walking towards Tomorrowland, we are looking out for cast members with pins so she can check out what they have. We started chatting with one of the cast members, his name was Brick, and after a while he asked us if we would like to be in the parade that afternoon. UM DUHHH!!!! We were so excited, we hadn’t even been in the park for 10 minutes and we were already asked to be in the parade! It was an amazing start to the day! So Brick told us to meet him by the fire station at 2:30PM and he would get us all set up.

We headed over to Tomorrowland and went straight to Space Mountain (which we lovingly refer to as Space Cheese – more on this in a minute). The ride was basically a walk-on, maybe had a ten minute wait posted. Having ridden Space Mountain at WDW before, my mom and I knew that it was different than the one at DL so when we heard that they were doing renovations to the one at WDW we assumed that they were updating it to be like the one at DL…we were wrong Neither of us could really tell what had been done to the ride…maybe just regular maintenance? One thing we do know though is that this ride is cheese-tastic compared to the one at DL hahahahaha (All you die-hard WDW fans don’t get mad…your castle puts ours to shame! ) If you haven’t been to DL….GO ! And ride Space Mountain a million times

After that we headed to the Laugh Floor…an attraction that we don’t have at DL (but should because it’s so much fun!) When waiting in line my mom gave me a joke to text in….
Q: What do they call a short, fortune-teller who escaped from jail?
A: A small medium at large! LOL

Our joke ended up being used in the show and Anna got picked to be on the screen during one of the acts!

By this time it was pretty hot (we are not used to humidity at all) so I got a soft serve…definitely my favorite treat while at WDW

We walked around the park, did some more rides, took a million more pictures of the castle and passed the time until we were supposed to meet Brick for the parade. Here are some pictures we took that morning…

Up next: We are in the parade!!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

Welcome, glad you are enjoying the pictures! Sam the Corgi is adorable DB and I would love to get a Corgi. The Pop is great - I'll post some more pictures of the property later in the TR!

 

[Disney_Jill]

Sounds like a great trip so far! How awesome that you get to be in the parade. Great pictures!

 

[*Dana*]

Hi!

Oh great pictures and very nice report! Hope you will continue fast We want to stay at the POP next year and we've never been in WDW before. Its extremely interesting for me to read!

Thx a lot!
Dana

 

[spiroff.natasha]

Sounds like a great trip so far! How awesome that you get to be in the parade. Great pictures!

Being a part of the parade was amazing! Definitely a great surprise for our first full day in the parks!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

Hi!

Oh great pictures and very nice report! Hope you will continue fast We want to stay at the POP next year and we've never been in WDW before. Its extremely interesting for me to read!

Thx a lot!
Dana

Thank you! I have the day off today so I will be posting as much as I can The POP is a great hotel - we definitely recommend it! I will be posting a bunch of pictures of the resort in a later post. Enjoy!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

At 2:30 we showed up at the fire station and met the other people who were going to be in the parade (three other small groups). We were told that we would be riding in two cars at the start of the parade. We were all SO excited and didn’t think it could get any better…but it did!!!

We were all given a set of ears and a volunteer pin to wear in the parade. Then we were introduced to our PhotoPass man (I don’t remember his name)….he was going to be taking our pictures along the parade route and told us where to look out for him. We were then given these cute certificates that had our names on them and explained that we were in the parade as well as a voucher for a 5x7 or 8x10 photo from our parade PhotoPass pictures!!

After getting all of our goodies, we were taken backstage to load into the cars. I was super excited to go backstage even though we didn’t go very far. The three of us, along with a couple and another family of three were placed in the second car (a family of 5 went in the first car). We were happy to be in the second car because it had a high cover that shaded us from the sun We quickly met the cast members who would be dancing in the parade around our car and then started rolling!

The parade was A BLAST! By the end of it our arms and cheeks were tired from all the waving and smiling We were all laughing at how many random people’s picture and videos we were going to be in! I also decided that from now on I will always wave at the people in parades hehe.

Brick met us at the end of the parade route and gave us all a bottle of water which was very appreciated And as if that wasn’t enough…they had kept a section on the parade route roped off for us so that we could watch the whole parade! The whole thing was an amazing experience that none of us will ever forget

Up next: The rest of our day at the Magic Kingdom…we are lost!

 

[mauigal]

Your mom is loving it....keep it coming!!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

Your mom is loving it....keep it coming!!

 

[where's_my_prince]

amazing pictures, i cannot wait to see the rest!

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

What an amazing experience in the parade!! And you should definitely get a corgi, they're the best dogs ever. Check out www.thedailycorgi.com for some cute corgi pictures

 

[*Dana*]

Hi!

What a great experience to be a part of the parade. Things like this are unforgettable! I could read, in every word you wrote so far, that the disney magic find the way into your hearts. THATS the stuff, that make dreams come true!

Dana

 

[spiroff.natasha]

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Magic Kingdom, riding rides and watching shows. We had a lot of fun comparing the rides that are at both DL and WDW as well as riding the ones that we don’t have here at home (like Mickey’s Philharmagic)

Later in the afternoon Anna and my mom got some Dole Whip. The line took FOREVER. I’m not sure if the CM was new or if she was having an off-day but she was messing up a lot of orders which resulted in a super long line. When we got up to the counter my mom decided she was going to try a dole float so that is what she ordered….we ended up with a coke float and a side of pineapple juice?!? We got had to wait for a manager to fix the overcharge buuuuut eventually we got the right order and were charged the correct amount so it was all good.

My mom and I agreed that we like the whip better than the float but were glad to have tried it!

The lines were very short all day which was great! We were able to do all rides and attractions that we wanted to before Wishes.

On our way to watch Wishes, the three of us stopped to take a picture of the castle (yes, again) and when I looked up from my camera I only saw Anna…my mom was nowhere to be found! Anna stayed where she was (on the side of the castle…on the walkway to Fantasyland/Tomorrowland) while I looked for my mom. I kept looking, looking, looking but couldn’t find her. Why didn’t I call you ask? I had her phone in my hipster!! So once the show started I went back to Anna and hoped that my mom would come to us…..she didn’t.
We waited a few more minutes then decided to walk to the entrance of the park (we never set a meeting point so we were trying to figure out what would make the most sense). The park was now closed so there was a mad rush to the exit…not what you want when you are trying to find somebody! . Once at the entrance, Anna and I each went under a different tunnel and met up at the center again….no luck. So then we exited the park and sat on a bench that gave us a good view of people exiting. We waited for a while and then decided that what would make the most sense it to head to the car and hope that we saw her there (we all had to get to the car eventually right?)

Anna and I took the ferry back and sure enough, my mom was waiting by the car Great minds think alike! Turns out she had kept walking and thought we were following but once they turned the lights off for the fireworks, she parked herself where she was and got some great pictures of the castle

Back at the POP we filled up our mugs and relaxed in the room. It was a very magical day at the Magic Kingdom and we slept happily

Up next…Hollywood Studios!

 

[TeaForTulips]

subbing! what a great start!

we always set a meeting place in case we get seperated and i always kind of chuckled about it. yikes! im so glad we do though because it really is so easy to get seperated!

 

[spiroff.natasha]

subbing! what a great start!

we always set a meeting place in case we get seperated and i always kind of chuckled about it. yikes! im so glad we do though because it really is so easy to get seperated!

Welcome! Setting a meeting place is definitely a good idea!! I couldn't believe how fast we became separated