Ever felt Under-dressed at Disney World? (May 23 - 27th TR Updated 6/13)

[Giddychilde]

Ever felt Under-dressed at Disney World?​

Hello there and welcome to my first Trip Report!

I was debating on whether or not to do this, debating on whether or not anyone actually wanted to hear about this four day, five night fiasco. But while reading The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney (23 pages in and I definitely recommend it) I finally plucked up the courage to slink back onto the Disboards. I wasn't able to do it earlier as I was deathly afraid that I would start getting upset about not being there.

Alright, lets try to get the details surrounding this trip down first.

Who - Me and Dbff
What - Take Dbff who had never been to Disney in her 19 years of life and have the most magical vacation ever.
Where - All-Star Movies....kind of, its a secret!
When - May 23 - 27th

Now I've never planned a trip anywhere in my 18 year life-time, which incidentally led me to the Disboards. Once I realized this trip was actually happening I jumped into planning, and quite honestly became obsessed with it for those five months I was waiting. After asking my Mom how she planned our first trip to Disney World and coming up with answer "Plan? What plan? All I did was book it!" I realized it was all up to me to plan a perfect first experience for my best friend.

No pressure.

Right, onto me and the dear friend I for-- took with me!

Um... I swear we don't look like that all the time!

Thaaaaats better. Somewhat. We'll go with it.

Karima (Me! On the left!) : Just finished my first year of College, hired to spend seven weeks in the middle of nowhere being a camp counselor to several hundred girls who have probably never been away from home and resident planaholic and disneyholic.
Favorite Disney Princess: Tiana
Favorite Disney Ride: Mission Space
Looking foreword to: Fantasmic and Wishes for the first time!

Amanda (DBFF! On the right!): Just finished first year of College, hired to work at school and be complained at by people about barbecue wings, resident worry-holic and workaholic.
Favorite Disney Princess: Aurora
Favorite Disney Ride: Wasn't sure yet
Looking forward to: Everything! Especially Country Bears and Haunted Mansion

Together, we represent some interesting challenges. I'm very foreword, I was reading to plan the trip from the get-go. As soon as she said it would be fun I consulted my Mother, who agreed that it would be fun. She on the other hand waited until December to ask her parents, whom surprisingly said yes. After that was an interesting struggle for me being overly excited and wanting to explain everything and her not really being too excited and being more worried about school work. Lets just say it was interesting the whole way through, even up to the trip we had our differences (which resulted in some very minor breakdowns).

But all that later!

Here was a quick run-down of our schedule:

Monday - arrive around 11:25, check-in to Allstar Movies, go to Foster's for Lunch and then immediately head over to Hollywood Studios for EMH.

Tuesday - wake up at 7:30 for rope-drop at Magic Kingdom, go to hotel during afternoon, head back in the evening.

Wednesday - wake up at 7:30 for rope-drop at Animal Kingdom, 1:00 reservation at Rainforest Cafe, go to hotel during afternoon, nighttime wherever we want!

Thursday - wake up at 7:30 for rope-drop at Epcot, go to hotel during afternoon, return in the evening.

Friday - home we go!

But as we all know, the best laid plans…
Does it work out as I had hoped? Or does the whole thing get blow-up in my face on account of tiredness and the first trip without parents?

We'll just have to see!

 

[Giddychilde]

Table of Contents

1 - We're Staying Where?! (aka 'I liked the other hotel.')
2 - A Change of Plan
3 - Make 'Em Smile
4 - Bright and Early

to be continued..

 

[kathie859]

Count me in! I can't wait to hear all.

 

[Giddychilde]

Count me in! I can't wait to hear all.

Whoo! My first viewer! I hope you enjoy it! XD

 

[Giddychilde]

We're Staying Where?! (aka 'I liked the other hotel.')​

I'll admit it, i didn't sleep a wink the night before. I tried, I legitimately tried, but as both times before - I was far too excited.

With that in mind, let me remind you of the schedule.

8:25am flight…..and an EMH at Hollywood Studios until 2am, then 7:30 wake up for Magic Kingdom. Oh dear.

Oh well, I was going to Disney World! I could careless if I was tired!

Both my parents came with me to the airport, my Mom because she was nervous and my Dad to make sure my Mom didn't have a nervous breakdown. We got there at 6:30 am, just on time. Amanda and her Mom arrived a few minutes later and we went to check-in our bags and then off to security. Many a goodbye and be careful were said and then we were off!

We were both surprisingly coherent and didn't seem to nervous. This was her first time on a plane since she was 3, and generally planes make me nervous and the pain endured during the 20 minutes of landing is what I can only describe as knives being stabbed into my ears. Its bad, but worth it for Disney World.

We got through security and after checking out the boarding area, we went to Sbarro for the breakfast of champions!

A Stromboli for me and breakfast pizza for her! We're going all out!

Its not everyday you get pizza for breakfast and to go to Disney World!

And then it was off off to the plane, only about 30 more minutes until boarding, so we sat around and talked.

No one's nervous, right? Right!

Onto the plane we went, no window seat for me, which was sort of disappointing. Watching as we land always helps me make it through the pain. The plane sat on the runway for about 30 minutes, there were several other planes in front of us waiting to take off, so we just waited - getting comfortable and looking over the plan for the next few days. But soon enough we were taking off and up we went. We spent the time watching DVDs and listening to music which made the time fly by. We landed approximately twenty minutes earlier despite our late start and immediately headed to the mini monorail.

I don't claim to have good directional skills, and the last time I had to find the Magical Express was in 2003, needless to say those 20 minutes early were wasted as we wandered around looking for it. Finally I asked and was pointed in the right direction, we entered the line and of course, All-Star movies had the longest wait. I had prepared myself for this, it was going to be an uphill battle getting anything done on time. So we waited and waited, suddenly the line started to move and there we were onto the magical…. Mears bus.

I was beginning to worry that this was not going to the best vacation ever and in fact would end up very, very bad.

But once on the bus, our driver was very enthusiastic and tried to engage everyone on the bus. But no one was buying it, the bus was completely dead and no one would even respond to the 'who wants to get dropped off first?' question. All-star Movies ended up being last, and seeing all the people getting off with us I was extremely happy to have done online-check-in. I went up to the counter while Amanda started snapping pictures.

She was intrigued, this was her first time in a Disney resort. I just wanted to know where our room was and gage how much walking we'd be doing around the actual resort.

I really wish I had written down this cast member's name. He was extremely helpful, we checked-in and followed him over to his area where he checked to see if there was a room available. By this time Amanda had wandered back over and we were waiting patiently to see where our room was. The most I was hoping for at this point was that out of kindness they would give us a preferred room - but I was completely optimistic. Eventually he turns to me and says:

"Do you want to upgrade to a Mod?"

"…y-yes! Yes!"

"How about a Deluxe?"

At this point I think I almost fainted. I'm practically jumping up and down at this point as I nod and say yes. Amanda is quite confused, she doesn't quite get whats going on, or indeed how astronomically different the hotels will be. She tells him its her first time and she gets the 'First Visit' pin and he gives me a voucher for a taxi to the Beach Club and then tells me to take Amanda for a quick tour of the Al-Star resort to see just how different it is.

Still in shock at this point, I thank him and we go out into hot, hot, hot sun. There was a pool right in front of us and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to just jump in, clothes and all.

I knew there was no way we were walking around this entire resort complex in the hot sun, so I saw the Toy Story section to the left and headed there, knowing she would like that. Needless to say, she was enjoying it far more than I was. She loved the whole theme-ing thing and in fact said she wouldn't have minded staying there. And I'll admit, it was cool.

Probably my favorite part of the Toy Story section.

A hug from Rex!

Like I said, really cool. It was also really hot, and I realized in this span that I knew absolutely nothing about the Beach Club.

I had spent a good while researching the hotel, trying to find the average bus ride times and walking distances from everywhere and all that information I had was absolutely useless. We headed to the cab and took the ride over to the Epcot resorts. I called my Mother finally, telling her about our upgrade. She was ecstatic and despite her stance on not wanting to go to Disney again, I'm pretty sure she wanted to go to the Beach Club.

And there it was, a beautiful building and it looked so….fancy. Everything was just so amazing, the cast member's costumes especially - they were completely different from the type of the uniform at All-star Movies. A cast member leads us inside and Amanda and I look at each other, mouths gaping.

And this is where the title comes from.

I've never felt under-dressed at Disney, its completely shirts and t-shirts. But when there is a greeter in a full captain's outfit standing in this extremely ordinate and extravagant hotel - all of a sudden I felt like I should be wearing a cute dress and some sort of sun hat. First thing we did was snap a few pictures.

Most of my pictures from this area were bad, everything was just so amazing I had no idea what to focus on. Finally snapping out of it, we headed over to check-in, where I proceeded to feel even more under-dressed. I was wearing a Power Rangers t-shirt and black shorts, I feel like such a loser. But the cast member was extremely helpful, running to check and see if our room was ready and confirming that yes, it was indeed ready! We got our keys and headed to find room 4552.

Here it was! I had no idea what to expect! Like absolutely none, I couldn't even guess how nice this room would be. Nervous that our keys would work, we hurried to open the door...

 

[Donaldswife]

Come on, you can't leave us hanging like that!

What an awesome upgrade!

 

[Eight]

Woah, what a great upgrade! That's so awesome!

Great start. I'm looking forward to reading more! I'm very interested to see how your friend likes it and how it was going with someone who has never been before, as I'll be doing something similar in a few weeks.

 

[OhMari]

Huge upgrade.

Also, I'm thinking conciere is on the 4th floor.

My dd worked as a camp counselor after her first year of college.
I'll just say, it isn't for the money, you have to say it is for the experience.

 

[lbuzz52]

Insanely jealous and curious about the rooms and pool too! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Giddychilde]

Come on, you can't leave us hanging like that!

What an awesome upgrade!

The suspense makes it exciting though! Haha, I'll try not to do it so often!

Woah, what a great upgrade! That's so awesome!

Great start. I'm looking forward to reading more! I'm very interested to see how your friend likes it and how it was going with someone who has never been before, as I'll be doing something similar in a few weeks.

Its definitely a great experience taking someone who has never been. Not only are they willing to try everything new, but theres just something that can almost bring a tear to your eye seeing them light up. I have to say, it was probably one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had.

Huge upgrade.

Also, I'm thinking conciere is on the 4th floor.

My dd worked as a camp counselor after her first year of college.
I'll just say, it isn't for the money, you have to say it is for the experience.

Haha, I've done camp counseling at day camps for two years previous, and I'm finally make the leap to overnight. I'm excited for the experience, and I won't complain. I'm one of my few friends who has a job, so I'll do my best.

Insanely jealous and curious about the rooms and pool too! Can't wait to hear more!

I hope you enjoy this!

I've been a bad, bad TR updater, but I promise to get one part out today and one tomorrow as camp orientation is starting this Wednesday! Wish me luck!

 

[Giddychilde]

A Change of Plan​

This room.
This room!!

I'll have better pictures later, but my hands were shaking and I forgot to put my flash on. It was gorgeous, basically eye candy and the whole four days we were there, I couldn't get enough of it.

After putting some of our things down, we immediately headed out to explore the resort. As I said, I hadn't planned for this at all - I knew close to zero about the Beach Club Resort, which made me somewhat nervous as to how this would effect our plan. We headed to the lobby and I took this picture, mostly because I loved the chairs and I was feeling extremely fancy just being there.

Also, note my shirt. For anyone who doesn't know, its the original Power Rangers from the 90s, anyone ages 18 - 21 will know about them and probably have a mini-freak out if you mention them. Amanda was also wearing one, the reason was that I had heard the Power Rangers did meet 'n greets, only to find out later that they had stopped a year before. Oh well, these shirts still served their purpose. Trust me.

Next we went to explore to the Beach Club! It was beautiful, but it was also hot, hot, hooot!

I love this place.

But, as we walked around, heres were the differences started to show. I knew clearly the difference between values and deludes, so this was a huge deal for me. Not to mention that even on normal vacations we don't stay at places like this. Nice hotels? Yes, but nothing themed and this gorgeously done up. Amanda however had more of a quiet appreciation, mostly because she and her family took yearly trips to Hilton Head in South Carolina, and she said this was basically exactly like Hilton Head, so it was so much of a big deal. That was kind of disappointing, but she did say she appreciated being closer to the parks and that it was nice, just not something she had never seen before.

But oh well! We weren't hear to fawn over the hotel anyway, we were hear to do some seriously fun Disney rides and shows! First place we were off to? Downtown Disney for our reservations at Fulton's. We originally had reservations at Sci-FI, but the night before the trip, we decided we weren't very pleased with the pricing or menu options. So we chose Fulton's, more moderately priced for lunchtime and with more options for both of us.

We hoped on the bus and off we went!

Whee! I had never spent an extensive amount of time in Downtown Disney, when I was younger it was my least favorite place to be. But now I got a chance to explore and really see what it had to offer!

Something we noticed was how prominently Fantasia is featured almost everywhere on Disney property, despite the fact that Fantasia probably isn't even one of the top five things that people think about when they think Disney. I actually haven't even seen Fantasia yet, but its on my to-watch list.

An absolutely amazing Lego structure! We didn't have time to go into the lego store, not to mention it was extremely busy anyway. But this was awesome!

Then we got to Fulton's, it was ghostly empty - which was spooky and kind of worried me. We were seated and immediately started looking to see what we would have. It was about 2:40 and we hadn't eaten since the breakfast of champions back at 7:30!

I'll be honest, at this point we were both starving and so neither of had thought about taking pictures before we scarfed down lunch. I had a half sandwich and soup deal, I remember I got crab and lobster bisque, which was delicious, but I completely forget what kind of sandwich I had.

It was okay (well the soup was awesome!), we chose pretty generic things and it was lunch time so I can't give a full out review. I think it would be worth a try though.

As we headed out we decided to go through the World of Disney!

We met our first Princess!

Trying on hats in the Christmas shop!

It was about four when we got back to the hotel and our bags weren't there. I was pretty sure there was a mix-up since we had gotten so suddenly moved, so I wasn't that worried. I headed into the bathroom for a second and when I came out…

…Amanda was sitting on the couch crying. I won't lie, I was tired and so the first thing I thought was 'You are nineteen. In Disney. Crying. Why??' But of course I didn't say that, and I asked her what was wrong. She was upset because the bags hadn't been delivered yet and she was worried, and also because her contact solution was in there. I could understand that reasoning a bit better.

We headed down to the lobby to find out where our bags were, and the man at the help desk looked it up for us and confirmed that they had been sent to All-Star movies. He wasn't sure when they would be delivered, but it probably wouldn't be soon. Amanda told him about the contact solution, and he said he would call our room when he had more information. We went back up, and about five minutes later he called and asked if we had a credit card attached to the room and I said no. He called back about ten minutes later and said someone was coming up with contact solution.

Someone delivered the contact solution, Amanda took her contacts out and immediately went to sleep. I didn't sleep because my ears would have been in too much pain if I tried to lay down, so I just sat and channel surfed on mute. About 45 minutes later, the bags came and Amanda woke up, all was well and we were ready for our first park!

I quickly looked up how we were supposed to get there and saw that it was by boat, how exciting!

The view from the dock of the Boardwalk, which also looks like an amazingly fun place to stay!

There is the Dolphin! Amanda really wants to stay at either the Swan or Dolphin, maybe next time I'll look into it.

i am loving the decor of everything, I took a lot more interest in the theme-ing this time.

Finally, after a surprisingly long boat ride we arrived at Hollywood Studios. It was about 7 pm, and there was a full boat with us. I prepared myself for a pretty busy and crowded time tonight. But honestly, I wasn't too concerned, this was Disney after all and I could deal with crowds for a while, as long as I was here.

Welcome to Hollywood Studios!

Oh boy… Its crowded!

 

[laura.anne]

I love this TR and seeing that someone else my age-ish (I'm 20) has gone through the Disney planning thing too lol. Just wondering, how were you able to check in being under 21? My DBF and I are planning a Disney/Orlando trip but I've been told EVERYWHERE that we couldn't check in since we were 20, not 21. (So our planning is for a trip in October 2012, when we will both finally be legal, thank God!)

 

[stasijane]

How exciting for you both to go together at such a young age, I wish I had taken a trip like this when I was younger! cant wait to hear and see more!

 

[Giddychilde]

I love this TR and seeing that someone else my age-ish (I'm 20) has gone through the Disney planning thing too lol. Just wondering, how were you able to check in being under 21? My DBF and I are planning a Disney/Orlando trip but I've been told EVERYWHERE that we couldn't check in since we were 20, not 21. (So our planning is for a trip in October 2012, when we will both finally be legal, thank God!)

Ah, that was actually a concern of ours as well. My Mom was trying to use it as an excuse to come down with us, but I had googled it before we went and the check-in age was definitely 18. I had absolutely no problems when I we checked in, I only had to show them my idea so they could confirm who I was. Unless you look very young, I don't believe they will question you. And I hope you two have an amazing time! Going with a best friend is one of the most awesome experiences!

How exciting for you both to go together at such a young age, I wish I had taken a trip like this when I was younger! cant wait to hear and see more!

It really was an absolute blessing that we could go on this trip! I really hope you enjoy reading it!

 

[LaNina72]

A little late joining in the party... please don't give up on the TR. I'm enjoying your pics and the way you detail your adventures...

PLEEZE!!!

 

[Deemarch]

Don't give up on it!! We want more!!!!!

 

[lbuzz52]

that room is amazing!

 

[Giddychilde]

Oh. My. Word.

Can I even start this up again since its been what? Two months? I mentioned before that I was starting work at Summer Camp and it wasn't until it really started that I realized what it really entailed. I have never had such an exhausting summer - it was fun and fulfilling - but absolutely exhausting and sometimes very frustrating.

One good thing did come out of it, I used my money to pay for another trip to Disney! Yep, I convinced my Mom so we're having a family vacation in January! It should be interesting to say the least.

But yes, other than that, school has started and its fun. My work load is never so much than I won't be able to post, so hopefully i can't actually finish this. Its nice to relive memories now.

Make 'Em Smile!​

First order of business? Tower of Terror.
Yes!

Its interesting to note that I'm a very tunnel visioned person. Being thus, I was rushing the Tower while my friend looked around in wonder at the scope of detail. There were several times I had to stop and remind myself that she'd never been there before and so, she was going to stand in the middle of the street and take a million pictures.

But after the pictures, its off to the Tower!

Amanda was amazed by the amount of detail. She wasn't expecting it at all!
The wait said twenty minutes, the line ended right outside the doors and I knew it wouldn't be too bad.

The line was moving so fast I could barely get any good pictures! As we got to the rope, the CM nearby complimented out Power Rangers shirts - thats compliment number one of the night! We headed in for the ride and managed to get in the front row.

….not sure if I liked that very much. Needless to say we had a blast and it was a perfect start to our vacation! Amanda was in love, and not really thinking at that point we went out and got fastpasses. I figured that this ride would eventually get a long line…..right?

Off to see the wait for Rockin' Roller Coaster. I was hoping that since Tower of Terror wasn't too bad…YIKES! 50 minutes? And we just waisted our fastpass?? Oh great… That was the first and last fastpass mistake I made.

Thus we were walking around looking for Star Tours. My recently newfound love for Star Wars and my forever love for this ride made it my number one for Hollywood Studios. Unfortunately, I get lost very easily - so for a while we just wandered.

I love this fountain!

I love this musical, its my absolute favorite! I couldn't resist taking a picture.

We passed by Muppet Vision and the castmember was calling for any last minutes before the next showing. We looked at each other and went for it! Muppet Vision is definitely one of my favorite shows at Disney, we were so lucky to see it without having to wait We had a blast and were laughing as we exited the theatre!

Eventually we passed get to Star Tours. I was so afraid of the wait time and…. 30 minutes! We'll take it for a new ride!

Upon getting in line we discovered that the four guys in front of us were fellow nerds and we had a bit of a time just listening to them talk about comics/movies/video games and being more aware of our t-shirts. And what happens of course? They turn around and notice we are wearing Power Ranger shirts, compliment number 2! We had a fun chat with them - all while taking in the amazing theme-ing.

t was nerd-tastic!

I wasn't even sure if I was supposed to take pictures of these guys. I mean they were hidden under the stairs, but they were so cutel! I wanted to take one home!

Suddenly we get to were fastpass and stand-by meet and the Cast Member looked at us and suddenly opened the rope. We blinked and hesitated and he said: "You've been saving the world all day, of course Power Rangers deserve the fastpass line." Yep, we just got into fastpass on t-shirts alone. One day in the World and the pixie dust is flowing!

Don't feel like we were too privileged through. Both lines were moving quickly, and I would't doubt that it was more of a twenty minute wait than a thirty minute wait. The ride was faaaantastic! I especially loved the C-3PO animatronic at the front. It blended so well with the screen that Amanda didn't even notice until the end!

I forget exactly our combination, but I do remember sliding on the ice.

There was a twenty minute wait and I was half tempted to stay - but it was getting dark and we still had things to do. Hunger was settling in, as neither of us had eaten since 2 in the afternoon. We quickly used our Tower of Terror fastpasses (the wait was ten minutes) then went for food. Cast Members were desperately telling people not to line up for the second showing, so we sat near the entrance to eat and waited. Despite the Cast Members, people started staking out at the entrance, so after eating we immediately went and joined the growing crowd. It was swamped with people pushing to get the front, trying to get with their families and it was extremely hot.

We stood for at least 45 minutes, and they waited until the last minute to let us in and when they did? It was a stampede! People running with their strollers, these other college kids jumping over things to reserve sixteen seats. And the Cast Members were just laughing the whole time. I couldn't help but think it was a little unsafe.

We did get good seats, the second row from the front - smack in the middle so we could see everything. And there were plenty of seats around us - so in truth there really was no need to rush.

The show, was of course, FANTASTIC! Haha, I had no idea what it was going to be like and I remembered the opinions I'd read from some people that it was nowhere near as good as Disneyland's. Either way, I enjoyed myself and certainly recommend it. It was just too amazing!

I couldn't resist a picture of this guy. Anything to do with my favorite movie!

As we walked out, it was very late. At this point I hadn't slept for over 24 hours and my friend was no doubt stressed and tired from being up all day. But I was stubborn and had heard how amazing Toy Story Mania Spin was and despite our best interest decided we had to go.

It was the worst mistake of the trip. The line was of course still a 50 minute wait (and I'm sure it was longer), and all the loudness and bright colors didn't help either of us. I got some pretty cool pictures…

But in all honesty, this was the only part of it we enjoyed.

Yep, just the talking Mr. Potato Head.

Coupled with our tiredness was the fact that the ride seemed so short and as far as theme-ing went the inside didn't impress me. By the end we were even frustrated with how long it even took us to get out of the ride. The attendant did comment on our shirts though, and that was nice.

We were exhausted. I apologized to Amanda for making her go on the ride and we headed down to the dock to wait for the boat. We could only watch as one pulled away and we had to wait for another one. We were so tired we couldn't even stand,, and could have honestly cared less if the people behind us stared.

We got back to our room and practically collapsed in bed. I forlornly set my alarm for 7:30 am and was out.

 

[BlvInMagic]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! And that hotel upgrade -- SO AWESOME! Can't wait to read more