I'm Gonna Be A Princess This Time! ~Our Little-Before-Christmas Vacation! Updated!

[Caribbeanprincess]

Ok, so one of my New Year's Resolutions is to actually complete my trip reports. So i'm doing one for my most recent Disney trip! Mom and I were at The World from Dec. 12-21st. This was our first time staying on property, so we decided to go all out and spend it at the Boardwalk Inn. This is our fifth Disney vacation and the first one to happen exactly one year after our earlier one.

So...here we go!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Ok, lets start this out!!!

Dec. 12th 2008
We woke up at 4:30am, which for me is the most horrible thing ever. I HATE waking up early! We had a taxi set up to pick us up at 5am so we started checking and re-checking luggage, gathering a nice warm coat because we knew the weather was cold and then we took the luggage downstairs to wait for our cab. I wore my lovely Mickey ring that I got from Diamonique on QVC, I hadn't had the opportunity to wear it yet, so the Disney vacation seemed like the perfect ocassion. I got my track suit on, a nice Christmas-y shirt and we were done.

The cab arrived at 5 am sharp, put our baggage in the car and we were off. There is hardly any traffic at that hour here, so we arrived at Luis Mu~oz Marin International Airport at 5:30 am. When we got there, mom realized she had left the coat she bought for the trip at home, so she had to open her suitcase and get another one out and ready. Our flight left at 7:30 am so we were still early. The good thing about traveling extra early here is that the airport is pretty much early and all the lines are tiny.

While I printed out our boarding passes at the JetBlue counter, mom got the luggage through agriculture and then we checked it at the counter and we were off. I was starving, so before heading to security we stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast. The line for security was pretty short, so we got through it quickly and by 6:30am we were at the gate.

At 7:00 we boarded our plain to Orlando and by 7:20 we were up in the air! We arrived at Orlando Internation Airport at 9:20 am local time, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Mom didn't want to get our luggage lost, so we picked it up before heading to the Disney Magical Express counter. We got totally lost though, we thought it was in side B of the airport when it was actually is side A. We finally got there, got our tickets and got in line. The bus took about 20 minutes to get there and then we were off to the world!

More to come!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

We arrived at the Boardwalk Inn at around 10:30 am! I was so excited just ridding the DME that I could hardly contained myself! When we got to the hotel I headed up to check us in. I must say, it was the easiest and fastest check-in I've ever done in my life. It took less than 10 minutes. I showed my ID, got my big fat package of Disney fun and most importantly...THE KEYS TO THE WORLD! We also got great news that our room was ready! So we headed off to leave our luggage and get changed. The room was absolutely gorgeous!

^ That was waiting for us on the bed!

I was so fricking excited and so happy to finally be there after months of planning! By that time I was once again starving and we decided to head down to Down Town Disney for some lunch and shopping. It had been cloudy and cold when we got to the airport, but by the time we left for DTD it was sunny yet still VERY cold. Before catching the bus, we took some pics in the lobby.

We got to DTD.

We immediately headed to T-Rex for lunch. I've been wanting to go there since it opened and I saw pics online. We got there around 12pm sharp, so we hardly had to wait for a table! I had the best Baby Back Ribs I've ever eaten there and it was an amazing place!

After lunch, we headed off to World of Disney for some present shopping and then I got my Mickey ears with my name on the back!

We then headed back to the hotel for sight seeing and some rest. We ordered some yummy room service and by 7pm we were in bed getting ready for Day 2...HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!!

 

[letthewookiewin]

I can't wait to read more!! The pics are great too. I love the scarf your mom is wearing.

 

[TarzansKat]

Yay! I'm so excited for your trip report. I didn't get to see the Boardwalk when I was down there (in December) so I love seeing it all decorated in your pictures. So pretty!

I'd love to try the T Rex restaurant at some point, glad you thought it was good.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Ariel8676]

Great so far!!! Love the pics, thanks for sharing..i love WDW at Christmas time.
Also. i'm happy to hear that you liked T Rex cafe, my girls can't wait to go there next trip to wdw...

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Dec. 13th 2008

On day 2 of our vacation we woke up around 8:00am. The morning was really cold, so we strapped on our coats and headed off to catch the boat to Hollywood Studios. We got there at around 9:30am and, like always, the first thing we see is the HSM3 crew heading down the street. So we see that first like we always do. After that we're pretty hungry, so we head down to the ABC Comissionary for some breakfast. After having breakfast I head over to my favorite Hollywood Studios ride: Star Tours! Really, I LOVE that ride. It's old and not that great, but I still enjoy every bit of it. I also got one of those cool Star Wars pics, with my head over Padme's body! We wanted to catch and early showing of Beauty and the Beast, because we had a 1pm ADR at the Sci-Fi, wo we catch the 12:00pm showing. I'm still to scared to go on Tower of Terror, my fear of elevators may have something to do with it...so I decide to skip that...

After that we decide to get early to the Sci-Fi, so we walk over there and check-in. They call us in after about 10 minutes. This is the first time I've eaten at a Disney restaurant, so I was incredibly excited! We got the front of a car too! I really enjoyed it; my burger was delicious and the atmosphere was great. We were on the DDP, so I got the sundae dessert, I couldn't eat it all though, it was huge!

The we headed off to do Great Movie Ride and Voyage of Little Mermaid with little to no wait. I really wanted to get on the Toy Story ride, but the line was 75 minutes and there were no fastpasses left. It wasn't until later that I found out there was a single riders line... -_-
We got out late from Voyage, so we missed half the Block Party Bash parade, I wanted to get on Star Tours one more time, so we headed back there and looked around the stores on the streets of NY. The weather had gotten worse and it was really windy and cold. So around 5pm we decided to head back to the hotel and come back some other day to see the lights. So we took the boat and headed back. We bought some hot dogs at the Boardwalk for dinner and went to bed at around 8pm ready for the best day, day 3...MAGIC KINGDOM, MVMCP AND PRINCESS MAKEOVER!!!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I'll be off the boards until tomorrow. So i'll update again then. ^^

 

[myrsfmly]

Great report so far! All the Boardwalk decorations are beautiful... can't wait to read more

 

[travelmel]

Neat ice cave place... I"ve never been to WDW so I love seeing all the side-pics cause it's so different than what I have ever seen at DL

 

[ArelysAdriana]

I'm subscribing! I'm loving it so far

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Great report so far! All the Boardwalk decorations are beautiful... can't wait to read more

Yes, the whole hotel is just lovely!

Neat ice cave place... I"ve never been to WDW so I love seeing all the side-pics cause it's so different than what I have ever seen at DL

You totally have to go! I wanted to sit in the Ice Cave, but we got the section next to it, which was still pretty awesome because about every 20 minutes the ceiling would display an asteroid crash! It was awesome!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Edit!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Ok, here we go!

Day 3 - December 14th 2008

This is the one day I'd being waiting for. It was MY day and the day I would finally get turned into what I've always dreamed of being...A Disney Princess. When I was at Disney World last year I discovered the Bibiddi Bobiddi Boutique, unfortunately I couldn't have my princess make over because it was booked solid and I didn't have a reservation. So this year, I bowed to get a reservation and get my hair done at the BBB inside Cinderella Castle. A dream come true huh? That was the first thing I booked back in October, and so I had an appointment at 3:50 pm!

Anyway...We got up extra early this day because we wanted to see the Grand Floridian before heading over to MK. So we had some breakfast at the Bellvue Room in the lobby of the Boardwalk and then headed over to catch our bus. We got to MK at about 9:30am, but instead of heading to the park, we went to catch the Monorail to the Grand Floridian. It was beautiful! I've never been inside the GF before, but it's been a dream of both mom and I to someday stay there. Unfortunately we haven't been able to afford it yet.

^There was a princess tea party going on!

After seeing the inside of the GF, we headed to the outside and went by the Wedding Pavillion to see my future place of marriage. It was really beautiful. When we were done we took the monorail back to the MK and got inside!

The first thing we always do when we get there is head down Mainstreet USA and see the castle.

After that we went to Adventureland and immediately got on Jungle Cruise with a 10 minute wait. Then we went to Pirates and got on with a 5 minute wait! From there we headed to Frontierland and had some lunch at Peco's Bill. Then went directly to Big Thunder Railroad, one of my favorite lines. Mom has neck problems, so she doesn't ride this one. I got on with only a 20 minute wait. I wanted to do Splash Mountain which, shamefully, I'd never gotten on before. But, we were running a bit late, so we decided to leave that for MK day 2. After that we headed over to the one thing I've wanted to do since my first WDW trip in 1995 and had never been able to do... Meet my favorite Ariel. It was a 50 minute wait, but I really didn't care and so we got in line! After about 45 minutes I was finally there. When I approached Ariel I was so excited! I ran up to her saying "You're my favorite!" and then gave her a big hug. She was the nicest thing ever and so beautiful! It was a moment full of Disney Magic! ixiedust:

After that it was nearly time for my BBB appointment! So we headed over to the castle to check-in. They weren't ready for me yet, so they gave me a beeper. While I waited to be called back we went to Tinkerbell's Treasures to look around and then we road the Caroussel. While on it I got beeped, so we got off and went right back to the castle. Then the truly magical experience began!

I got my Royal Invitation with my name on it and everything! And then I was called in for my make-over. My Fairy God Mother in Training was Susan and she was fantastic! While she did my hair she told me all these stories about the Castle and the Princesses, and how their royal Crowns were stored there and how Tinkerbell came in to hide their equipment for fun. It was sooo cool! Susan was really amazing and I'll never forget her.

After gettin my Royal Sash on, this was my reaction...

A truly magical moment.

To be continued...

 

[TarzansKat]

I just love the Grand Flo decorated for Christmas.

Soooooo beautiful.

And I love reading about you becoming a princess!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

Dec. 14th 2008 Cont.

Ok, so after my Fairytale transformation we headed off to Mickey's Phillarmagic, one of my favorite shows ever! After seeing that and doing some shopping we headed down to Mickey's Toon Town to do something I've never done before. Meet all the Princesses in one place! I was even more excited when I got there and realized the wait was only 15 minutes! We got in line quickly and soon I was in metting Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. They were all beautiful and so nice and we started talking about my growing pin collection!

After that it was already almost 7pm! So we headed down to the Rose Garden to get our MVMCP wristbands! Then we headed over to my favorite part of the MVMCP, the dance party with Lady Tremaine and Anastasia and Drizella! At last year's MVMCP this was my favorite part! I was there for over and hour and we danced to everything! From Hannah Montana, to the Twist, YMCA, Hokey Pokey and even the chicken dance!

After the dance party we headed down to Cosmic Ray's for some Hot Cocoa and cookies. We sat down for the party there, Pluto and Goofy were there too! It was really fun!

\

We then found a spot near the castle to watch the Christmas Parade, but it was very crowded so we had to watch it standing up. We wanted to stay for Holiday Wishes, but we were really exhausted and we decided to just watch Wishes on MK Day 2. So we headed back to the buses and back to the hotel, but not before catching some awesome pics of the Christmas lights!

Oh and my hairdo lasted all day! But it was getting pretty painful by the time I got back to my room, so i decided to take it off. It was sad though, I would miss the pixie dust! I took lots of pics before taking it off, so here are some.

Next up...Animal Kingdom!

 

[myrsfmly]

You looked beautiful!!! I think my DD had the same FGIT whe we went to BBB!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

You looked beautiful!!! I think my DD had the same FGIT whe we went to BBB!

Oh great! She was really amazing!

 

[TarzansKat]

I can't believe you only had a 15 minute wait for the princesses!!! That's awesome, and so something I want to do in the future.

And you got some great photos of the castle at night. Just beautiful.

And I love the pictures from before you took your hair down. Very regal!

 

[Caribbeanprincess]

I can't believe you only had a 15 minute wait for the princesses!!! That's awesome, and so something I want to do in the future.

I know right! I've been to the tent every WDW trip and the wait is always 45 minutes to an hour. So I'm glad I was lucky.