I know what your story is called! Belle and the Bounty Hunter! Update 3/25

[Felipe4]

Hello Dissers!

I'm going to Disney and Universal this June for Star Wars Weekends!

It all started when I started dating my BF earlier in 2014. At one point he told me his parents never brought him to an amusement park and he still hasn't gone to one aside from occasional water parks.

WHAT?!! Talk about a deprived childhood!

I decided we needed to rectify this. Now the easiest way probably would have been to take him to a Six Flags, but it was cold up here in New England. I talked about how amazing my trip to Disney was last year, my first trip without my family and just some of our mutual friends (before we started dating). BF told me he wanted to go to Disney with me someday. I thought, why delay?

Around December I started looking into Disney and Universal (we're both HP fans). The main thing I remembered from last year was that I needed to make dining reservations 180 days in advance. We didn't even book our trip last year until about 2 months out and were never able to score an Ohana reservation and MAJORLY lucked out with a BOG right at 4PM on our last day by continuing to check back.

I thought about opportune times to go to Disney - my family had always gone during Jersey week growing up (as we're from Jersey), and I contemplated going for Patriots Day (Boston Marathon Monday) as well to minimize the amount of time I took off work. None of those dates would work for me and BF (plus it was way too soon for February!).

I decided to base our vacation around when I could get reservations for BOG, not knowing that had I booked for a later time, like during F&W, I'd get 190 days instead of just 180 day by day.

Those dates turned out to be in June. June it was - which was almost a year to the date as my last trip!

Then I remembered - last year when we went Star Wars Weekends was happening, much to our surprise. BF is a HUGE Star Wars fan. This seemed perfect.

I also talked to my cousin, who lives in Fort Lauderdale with my extended family down there. I figured maybe she and my other cousin could join us for a day or two. It turned out my cousin was just about ready to send out save the dates for her wedding reception which would also be in June! She's getting married in London to her long time girlfriend but having a reception in the US for those that won't be there. Talk about luck!

We finally decided to have our Florida trip end on her reception, which will be on Father's Day.

Then I decided, let's go all out and stay on Disney property (like I had last year at SSR, my friend's family was in the DVC). If I'm the one to introduce him to Disney, I better go all out. I was having issues deciding between POR and CSR - I wanted to stay at both! There was the Spring package that covered about half our stay (and I'm all about saving money when I can) plus an extra day free at the parks!

I looked into travel agencies and found one that offered free Quest tickets with the package (plus other coupons and free mini-golf), which meant we wouldn't have to get Water + More package since all I wanted to do was Quest.

And then I booked the package! I was going to POR!

Later the Summer package came out and in order to get the discount, I had to do a split stay at CSR....so I get to go to both resorts like I wanted!

So we will be doing:

June 11-16 at POR
June 16-21 at CSR
June 21-22 visiting my family in Fort Lauderdale for my cousin's wedding reception!

Details in the next post!

 

[Felipe4]

Reserved for Chapters

Cast
Itinerary and Reservations
Quick trip to San Diego!
Day 1 - Flight/Check In POR
Day 2 - Magic Kingdom
Day 3 - Hollywood Studios
Day 4 - Hollywood Studios
Day 5 - Universal
Day 6 - Universal/Check In CSR
Day 7 - Animal Kingdom
Day 8 - Magic Kingdom/Epcot
Day 9 - Epcot
Day 10 - The Hobbit Challenge (All 4 parks)
Day 11 - Last Day/Drive to Fort Lauderdale/Wedding Reception
Day 12 - Flight Home

 

[Felipe4]

Cast

The stars of this cast are my boyfriend and myself.


Myself and the Boyfriend this past valentine's day at our college's big hockey game.

ME

I'm K! I'm a 27 year old Jersey girl transplanted in Boston. I still wear my Yankees hat around and don't care if I get teased by others because of it. I started my own theater company a little over a year ago with 2 friends and that takes up a lot of my spare time. The rest of my spare time is spent with my horses, acting in/producing other theater productions, and spending time with my BF.

Favorite Disney movies: Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid

Favorite Ride: Space Mountain

Favorite Characters: Belle, Jasmine

Favorite Restaurant: Be Our Guest

The BF

My BF in the above photo is T! He's 28, a giant Star Wars nerd, and crazy about the New England Patriots. He goes to the gym, plays kickball in the spring, hosts awesome parties, and does podcasts with his friends who are into comics, star wars, and just about everything you can find at ComicCon. He helps run a booth at many of these cons where the website he does podcasts for sells T-shirts. He plays guitar and sometimes he serenades me.

T has NEVER been to Disney before! He's also never been on a roller coaster before, so I'm introducing him to them in Disney and Universal.

Favorite Disney Movies: The Great Mouse Detective, Nightmare Before Christmas, (and technically now) STAR WARS.

Favorite Characters: Boba Fett, Ratigan, Oogie Boogie, Jafar (so any of the villains, really).

How we met

We actually went to college together and were in the theater group, (and his frat's house was back to back with my apartment) but we were never really friends. Flash forward 4 years after graduation. My relationship with my college boyfriend (who was also in our theater group) was waning after 6 years. Our interests were changing and not together.

After a first rehearsal of my theater company's first full length show in May, we went to celebrate in a bar in Cambridge. As I walked in, I thought I saw T, but wasn't sure. I knew he was from MA, but wasn't sure if he remembered me. Well, he remembered me. He came up to me about a minute later to talk to me. I told him about my theater company and the show we were doing. He said I should invite him to the show.

Fast forward a few days later - a bunch of key people in my show dropped out. I reached out to T to see if he still did acting and if he'd come audition for one of the now vacant roles. He did. He got the role.


Me and T in our show (Romeo and Juliet! I was Mercutio, he was Tybalt!)

I broke up with my boyfriend about a month after we met again (a couple weeks after I came back from my Disney trip) - though it wasn't related to T. T and I became more friendly through our show and we started dating after it closed. It's been almost a year since we met again.

We also take our Halloween costumes pretty seriously. We had two this year - Xena (me) and Hercules (T) and Sonic (me) and Knuckles (T) - my friend was Tails.




Supporting Cast

I contacted my BFF, who lives out on St. Petersburg, about joining us for a few days during our trip since I haven't seen her in a couple years when we went to Universal!

She will be coming Day 2 for Magic Kingdom, and come back in the evening on Day 4 for dinner with Me, T, and her BF, and then we're all going to Universal on Day 5.

The BFF

My BFF is L. We've been friends since middle school. L is 28. She loves music festivals, natural remedies, and breaking out into spontaneous dance parties. She also loves bubbles. She's just a really fun person.

Favorite Disney movies: The Little Mermaid

Favorite Ride: Teacups

Favorite Characters: Tinkerbell, Ariel, Mary Poppins, Alice

The BFF's BF

P is L's BF, making him my BFF's BF. He's 27. Me, L & P actually all went to middle school together. L&P went to high school together and were never super good friends until after re-encountering each other after college a few years ago (story sounds familiar, right?). P & L have been living together for a few years now. P is really laid back and super sweet. He's not really into Disney, but will be there for Universal.



L & P

 

[Felipe4]

Itinerary and Reservations

June 11 - Flight/Check In POR - K,T

June 12 - Roller Coaster Training - Magic Kingdom - K, T, L
8:20 - Crystal Palace Breakfast (Pre-park opening)
10:15 - Peter Pan Fast Pass
12:00 - Seven Dwarves Mine Train Fast Pass
1:30 - Whispering Canyon Cafe Lunch
3:45 - Space Mountain Fast Pass
7:55 - Be Our Guest Dinner - I've also ordered T a custom Chewbacca cake from the Contemporary to be served at dessert.

June 13 - May the Force be with You - Hollywood Studios - K, T
8:00 - Galactic Breakfast at Sci Fi
9:45 - Check in for Feel the Force Premium Package
10:00 - Toy Story Midway Mania Fast Pass
11:00 - FTF PP Parade
12:25 - Star Tours Fast Pass
1:00 - DTECH ME (surprise for T!)
3:00 - Stars of the Saga Fast Pass from FtF
4:15 - Rebel Hangar
4:50 - A Conversation with Frank Oz Fast Pass
7:10 - Jedi Mickey at Hollywood and Vine
8:30 - Dessert party and Symphony in the Stars

June 14 - THIS. IS. CHILDHOOD. Magic Kingdom/Hollywood Studios - K,T, (L)
8:05 - Be Our Guest Breakfast
12:00 - Tower of Terror Fast pass
12:35 - 50's Prime Time Lunch
1:25 - Rockin' Roller Coaster Fast Pass
3:00 - Stars of the Saga Fast Pass (to be swapped out if we get SotS on 6/13)
4:30 - Rebel Hangar
8:30 - Ohana with L

June 15 - I'm a Ravenclaw. DUH. - Universal - K, T, L
9:00 - Rush for Leaky Cauldron Breakfast
12:00 - Three Broomsticks/Hogs Head (or at least we plan to since it's CS)
6:30 - Pat O'Briens (L & I loved this place last time we went with the dueling pianos! Hurricanes were awesome!)

June 16 - You thought Disney Coasters were a thrill? - Universal - K, T
12:00 - Moe's Tavern/Krusty Burger
6:45 - Mythos

June 17 - You and Me, Baby, Ain't Nothing but Mammals - Animal Kingdom/Downtown Disney - K,T
8:00 - Rope Drop to Safari
10:50 - Expedition Everest Fast Pass
11:50 - Kali River Rapids Fast Pass
1:35 - Sanaa Lunch
3:00 - Wine Tasting Jiko
6:05 - Kilimanjaro Safari Fast Pass
9:30 - TREX

June 18 - Oh Yeah, There's this Other Park! - Magic Kingdom/Epcot - K,T
7:45 - Kona Cafe (might cancel this since there's EMH for MK this morning)
8:00 - EMH Magic Kingdom Rope Drop
12:30 - Be Our Guest Lunch
2:00 - Disney Pals Fast Pass
3:00 - Mission: SPACE Fast Pass
4:25 - Test Track Fast Pass
7:30 - Biergarten

June 19 - Drink Around the World - Epcot - K,T
8:20 - Akershus for early park entrance
9:35 - Soarin' Fast Pass
10:35 - Mission: SPACE Fast Pass
11:40 - Spaceship Earth
12:45 - Le Cellier
6:30 - Hacienda de San Angel

June 20 - The Hobbit Challenge (4 Parks, for ADRs, 1 Day) - K,T
8:05 - Tusker House
1:15 - Mamma Melrose
4:00 - Restaurant Marrakesh
6:30 - Anna & Elsa Fast Pass
7:30 - Seven Dwarves Mine Train Fast Pass
9:55 - Wishes Fast Pass
10:55 - Cinderella's Royal Table

June 21 - Last Day/Drive to Fort Lauderdale/Wedding Reception - K,T
7:45 - Kona Cafe
11:20 - Beaches and Cream

June 22 - Flight Home - K,T

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

Following along! I haven't managed to convince me DBF to go to Disney yet so I can't start the process of converting him into a Disney addict! I love your gifs, I have a slight addiction to gifs... It sounds like a fun trip! Stars Wars Weekends are just epic!

 

[Felipe4]

On a somewhat unrelated note, my theater group did a reading for William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily a New Hope. We had it at a brewery and although we only had a donation, we filled the brewery past capacity! Apparently there was a line out the door waiting for people to leave for a half hour into the show!

Here's a few photos from the cast.


Obi Wan


R2D2 and C-3PO



Luke (BF)


Han Solo


Darth Vader


R2D2 and Leia


Selfie from the stage


Me and the Cake I made with the girl who was R2 (we did the fondant together)


R2 Cake Front


R2 Cake Back

 

[Felipe4]

Well, things are falling into place...kind of.

L's 30 day mark that she needed her ticket by was yesterday. She got it today.

Mine Train Fast passes were GONE by then, but our Peter Pan's flight and Space Mountain fast passes worked out. This means that we're going to try to go to rope drop at Mine Train from Crystal Palace....this may prove difficult but we will try darn it!

OK. WE WILL DO IT.

But if we don't, I'll let L & T ride Mine Train since I've ridden it twice before and I'll eat a Mickey Bar or something...or go in Single Rider.

We're getting super excited - one month left!

I've also realized that we're pretty much covering almost every occasion that Disney gives out pins for.

We'll be celebrating our birthdays, anniversary, T's first visit, SWW, and L and I think of us reuniting as a family reunion. We'll have SO much Flair! (If I can get T to wear the buttons!)

 

[Felipe4]

Don't you love when plans fall into place perfectly?

I knew there was exactly 1 FP left that overlapped my and T's FP for 7DMT before the 30 day mark that would work for L. Yesterday by simply continually checking the app and site for availability I found an opening for a 7DMT for L...but it was at 5:25PM. Our FPs were at 11:40/11:50AM. I took it anyway, hoping I could later update to a better time.

This morning, I checked back and lo and behold! The single FP that overlapped us became available! I snagged it.

Everything is going to work out now - we won't have to rush through breakfast and when we're done, we can head over the rides with relatively shorter waits, ignoring the long lines for 7DMT and Peter Pan.

In other news - I've decided to Disneybound the entire trip. This came about because of last year's packing fiasco. I packed clothes for about a month to last 1 week. I wore about 5 of those outfits since we were in a suite in SSR with free laundry in the room. In an effort to consolidate space and not bring unnecessary clothing, I decided the best way would be to Disneybound since some tops and bottoms could be used for multiple characters! I also found a bunch of great accessories to emulate each princess.

In the meantime, I'm excited to visit my friend in San Diego this weekend! I leave on Friday after work and have yet to pack anything. I have a feeling it will go something like this:

 

[Felipe4]

Just got back from a trip to San Diego! I did seriously consider driving up to Disneyland for the 60th anniversary, but it seemed like it would be way too crowded. Instead, I went to the San Diego Zoo, visited Coronado, and went to Mission San Diego de Alcala. I also ate lots of Mexican food, that was great.

The reason I went to the mission is because I actually lived in CA when I was young. Since 4th graders learn about state history, I learned about California and the importance of the Missions founded by Father Serra. Everyone had to do a report on a mission and I was assigned San Diego de Alcala - since I was in the area, I figured I should see the mission I wrote about. Not that I remembered anything I wrote about it aside from Father Serra founding it and it being the first mission. For those not from CA, it actually has a pretty horrific past when the Natives led an uprising against the mission (Father Serra left to found some more missions with better climates). The Natives torched the mission, stoned the leading friar to death, and killed two others. It was rebuilt in the 1830s.
San Diego de Alcala from down the hill.

Later that day, I visited Coronado (which Coronado Springs draws inspiration from). My friend told me that Disney had a resort based off the island and I told her I was staying there. However, the hotel looks like it actually influenced the Grand Floridian.

The beach was gorgeous and it was nice to stick my feet in the ocean. The sand has mcia in it, which make it shine like gold. It's quite beautiful.

Ocean View


You can kind of see the mica flecks in the sand making it shine!

The next day I went to the San Diego Zoo - and there were LOTS of babies.

I'll post those in the next post. There are way too many photos and I have to edit them for size.

 

[Felipe4]

The San Diego Zoo is pretty sweet.

They have employees stationed throughout the place to give you information on the specific animals. I think my favorite was about an Asian Bull Elephant - he lived by himself though there was a herd in another enclosure. The employee was saying he much preferred life without all the drama from the females.



Some of the Females





Just about everyone was having babies, including the giraffes!


Here's the baby! It was separated from the rest.

Some other wildlife:


The three little pigs!

 

[Felipe4]

More photos!



Baby Ducks!



It was feeding time for the Cougar. It's eating a rabbit. An employee made a joke about horrified kids on Easter.




We waited around the Gorillas for about 1/2 hour to see the baby come out and were not disappointed.


The female KNEW to pose with the baby as the first thing she did when she was let out was go straight for the windows.



We didn't see the baby hippo, the female must have had him hidden somewhere.





The Famous Flamingos at the beginning of the park



Feedin' Time.



A Lion, doing what he does best.

 

[Felipe4]

I like to call this series the "NOPE!" series. All the animals are just noping out.

 

[Felipe4]

At first, we didn't see the baby Jaguar in the bowl!






Uh huh. Uh huh Uh huh Uh huh!


Magpie was eerily good at mimics human voices.


What are YOU lookin' at, kid?


Meerkats were posing.




This monkey apparently has diabetes.


These always freaked me out with how long they are, especially when they're on their hind legs!


This female orangutan was amusing herself with the kids crowded by her.

 

[Felipe4]

We actually visited Pandas early in the morning. Pandas in the San Diego Zoo are like the Anna and Elsa of the Magic Kingdom. A line forms before the exhibit opens. We stood in line for about 20 minutes before they let everyone in to see the pandas.




There was also this Peacock, just strutting around.


The Polar bear was having a great time playing.



Couldn't get a good shot of the Tiger.


Vulture in flight



Zebras!



Goodbye zoo!

Well, we finished the zoo by about 3-4PM - Balboa park was open until about 6PM for the other museums. We decided to wander around and see the organ, but first came across Artist's Village.



I loved the colorful bricks!



I'm also a sucker for elaborate architecture.

We also went into a botanical garden, but I didn't take many photos there.



Organ and Dinner in the next post!

 

[Felipe4]

We went down to the giant organ. There was a free concert there for Memorial Day, and it was awesome.

Afterwards, I wanted to see the Old Globe Theater (I'm a Shakespeare nerd)



We walked back to a bus stop and took a bus downtown. We had already walked so much that day (we walked from downtown San Diego to the Zoo as well!)

Then it was time for dinner. Now, T loves guacamole and burritos, so we got some for dinner.





That burrito must have been a pound! But my friend still wanted to take me to Ghiradelli's Ice Cream shoppe. So we went. I couldn't even finish mine. I consider this Disney Training.



We went back exhausted and just talked for a while, catching up some more.

Then the next morning, it was time to go back to Boston.



I felt my plane outfit was appropriate for Memorial Day.


Bye San Diego!


Now there's less than 10 days before my Disney trip! Getting super excited!

 

[Felipe4]

Sad to say P will not be joining us He just didn't have the money to join in. While I'm a little bummed, I'm still very excited that L WILL be joining us!

One week left!

 

[soniam]

Later that day, I visited Coronado (which Coronado Springs draws inspiration from). My friend told me that Disney had a resort based off the island and I told her I was staying there. However, the hotel looks like it actually influenced the Grand Floridian.

We love Hotel del Coronado. I have a really pretty, large hand-painted tile of the main building, since I collect tiles. I think it was the inspiration for Grand Floridian too.

 

[Felipe4]

OK - I am back from this vacation and it's time for some actual updates.

Let's start with Day 1.

Or actually, the night before. I did my nails with my Disney Jamberry to prepare:




Flight and Check into POR.

I worked a full day at work and brought my luggage with me. I used the largest bag I had, which is roughly the size of a hobbit. I decided to splurge on an uber to work because I didn't want to take the luggage on the T. I also got my hair done at lunch because why not?

Everyone commented how large my suitcase was. For the record, it was mostly empty, anticipating filling it with goodies.

Now, I had faxed a request to POR a few days previously and when I received my room assignment, it was one of the farthest from the main building. :/ Because we'd be getting in so late, I had requested to be close to the lobby. I also realized the rooms in the Bayou section only had stairs. Considering my hobbit sized luggage, I didn't want to lug it up. So I had us switched to a room in the Mansion section since there was an elevator. It was also about the farthest room possible. Such is life.

Flight didn't have delays! YAY! Whenever I've flown JetBlue, it's been delayed a LOT. T commented on how nice JetBlue was (in comparison to flying Southwest). My coke seemed to know I was visiting my BFF (who is like a sister).



I tweeted/instagramed/facebooked the photo and JetBlue responded!



We took off on time and got in on time - the carousel didn't take too long either and before we knew it, we were on the Magical Express!



When we got to the hotel, a man in a golf cart sped up to us and asked if we were pre-checked in. We were, so he sped us to our room and took all our luggage up for us. He asked if we were on our honeymoon and we told him no - but we were kind of celebrating our dating anniversary and birthdays early. He was highly entertaining to listen to.

Our room was also around the corner from where the mousekeeping kept some carts at all times - it was a little burdensome and broke the illusion somewhat, but we really are only there to sleep.

We unpacked a little (I took out the canvas a friend had made for my cousin's reception I was going to the next weekend and put it on a shelf) I set my alarm for 6:15 AM and passed out.

 

[Felipe4]

Now for Day 2. Magic Kingdom.

As you'll recall, I set my alarm for 6:15AM...It never went off.

Thanks to my circadian rhythm, I woke up naturally around 7:00. It seemed dark (T had wanted to pull the curtains fully shut) - I checked the time and FREAKED OUT.

L was supposed to be there by 7:15. Luckily I had set out my clothes the night before and frantically pulled them on and did my face. I found a few texts from L letting me know she was on her way and she hoped I was up! EEEK!

I got ready the fastest I ever have and was able to get out with T by 7:25. Our reservations at Crystal Palace were for 8:15, so I was nervous we'd be late.

I was super excited to see L! It had been 2 years, but we hugged quickly and piled in the car and stepped on it.

We arrived to the Transportation Center around 7:45, then had to take the monorail - it was all kind of nerve wracking. In all the hubbub, I realized I had forgotten our Brita water bottles, so we all shared from L's.

I had only MOSTLY pre-packed my mom bag with: a frog tog, ponchos, umbrella, cool off wipes, cell phone and wallet.

We got to the check in at the front of the park around 8:10, and after our line I power walked to Crystal Palace.

Was able to get over to Crystal Palace a few minutes late to check in. They gave us a buzzer to let us know when it'd be ready, and when asked if we were celebrating, I said we were celebrating birthdays and an anniversary. Then L and I saw a Photopass photographer by the castle and HAD to take some photos:




As soon as we finished, we buzzed for our table and we raced back to be seated.

We had a lovely window table and a few minutes later, Piglet came around for photos. T designated himself the official photographer.



Then my Eeyore came over (my favorite). He gave me a big hug when I told him that.



I could hear the cast member inside give me a kiss.

Then we ate some more. We each had 2 plates of food - T had 3 because he is a never ending pit.



Because the server saw the note about birthdays, she brought out everyone a cupcake and card. (since we didn't have pins yet).


Birthday card from Piglet, Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore.



Cupcake time.

Then Pooh came around - L was thankful she finished her small pot of honey before Pooh got there. Pooh's handler was also very entertaining.



And finally, the infamous T-I-Double Gah- ER




Then it was time to ride some rides! I contemplated what we should do first. The park had been open for about a half hour and ride times were skyrocketing for popular attractions.

We went for Splash Mountain - it only had a 15 minute wait. We lucked out with the first and second rows.




As you can see - T seems to be enjoying himself. GOOD. My plan is working.
More to come!

 

[Hadley's Mom]

Fun! Joining in, I'm new to the trip reports area! I'm addicted now!