Mom and I do Disney! Aug. 2011 TR.

[spartankid34]

Welcome to my first ever trip report! If you'd like to read about the planning and how this trip came to be, feel free to check out my PTR - Hey you're a college graduate, let's celebrate...an August 2011 PTR!

Just a quick note - I did not take any food pictures as this was my first trip in SO long that I just really wanted to enjoy the environment

My mom and I got back from our Mother/Daughter trip on Aug. 23rd. We were there for 9 nights, and went to each park twice. We did not have park hoppers, but had some days where we went and took a pool break. We had the regular dining plan as well. We had so much fun, and there were so many new things there that weren't 14 years ago. This trip was taken to celebrate my college graduation, as well as my mom's birthday! So let's start off with the introductions.

Introductions:

First there is me. I am 22 years old and just graduated with a degree in Elementary Education! I absolutely love kids, and I am a big kid at heart. The last time I went to Disney I was 8 years old, and I have been wanting to go back and become a little kid again! The thing that I was looking forward to most this trip was bonding with my mom.

So let’s talk about her now. My mom works so hard, in fact I have to beg her to take vacation time in order to relax. Like I said before, she is the strongest person I know…a single mother who had to put up with me and my older brother! I say that jokingly though, because I know that my mom has been so supportive of us, and has kept this family going for so long. My hope for this trip is that she gets to relax away from work and gets to bond with me after I’ve been away from home for four years!

Here is a quick summary of what we thought about our Disney trip!

• First and foremost, I am pooh-sized and worried daily about each ride we went on...let me tell you that I fit with EXTRA ROOM on EVERY ride at Disney.
• Bodyglide was a lifesaver for those blisters...the one day we forgot, we had the beginnings of some blisters.
• The dining plan was worth it, but we wished we could've had appies instead of dessert all the time.
• Tower of Terror literally kept me airborne the entire ride, lol.
• We ranked the parks like this...#1 Hollywood Studios #2 Magi Kingdom #3 Epcot #4 Animal Kingdom
• We will never go in August again...just too hot for us (thought we had learned our lesson back in 97)
• BUT, hotel towels are a savior for keeping the sweat off your neck!
• My mom and I were both very annoyed with the guest who used OLD MUGS, and the CMs didn't do a thing.
• BUT we had a blast and enjoyed each others' company to the fullest!

So read along, and enjoy the report, but bear with me because this is my first report! I hope this helps with my post Disney depression, haha!

 

[spartankid34]

​

Reserved for links!

Introductions​

Travel Day(s)​

Adventure #1​

Adventure #2 - Flustered in Penn Station​

T-minus 21 hours til Disney​

1st Night in Disney​

Arrival at POP​

 

[spartankid34]

So it was time!! The car was packed and ready to go, my puppy was all boarded up, and we just had to sleep (haha, yeah right).

It was Friday night, and we watched 101 Dalmations...I was so in the Disney mood before bed,a nd I thought for sure I'd be able to sleep, but I was wrong. I think I only got about 2 hours, if that, and before I knew it I was getting ready to leave It was 4:30 in the morning, and we had to be out the door by 5:15am to catch our bus into Boston. If you haven't read, or figured it out yet, we were taking the Amtrak train from Boston - NYC - Kissimmee in order to get to Disney.

We got to the bus station with plenty of time to spare, so we sat on the bench and I worried about the day...I was so stressed about catching the trains and everything. My mom told me to relax, and we were soon on the bus to Boston! Adventure #1 = success!! The bus was was quick and we both napped on our way there.

Soon we saw this, South Station!! We were in Boston, and we had 2 1/2 hours until our first train left for NYC. We were for sure early, but it was better than rushing, the only other bus to Boston would have given us 30 minutes to catch the train...NO WAY So we gathered our luggage and grabbed a table and some breakfast from Au Bon Pain...yummy!!!

The time passed really quickly, and soon we got ourselves a Red Cap (I must say that these guys are SO worth the tip that we gave them, they took the stress right out of boarding, and I swear I won't train travel without them from now on). Our red cap brought us out 30 minutes before we were even called to board, and got us two nice seats. We sat down and relaxed and waited to head out! To be honest, I think we were both so tired that we fell asleep while on this leg of the trip. It wasn't until we were close to NYC that I started to get nervous again...about catching our next train.

Continued in next post​

 

[spartankid34]

OK! So when I left off, our first train was getting into NYC, and my mom and I were waking up from our nap. The first train-leg of our trip was about 8 hours long, and I napped and read while my mom napped a little bit and watched out the window. I mention earlier that this whole train traveling thing had me wicked stressed out...not that I wasn't excited or anything, once I was sitting comfortably in my seat I was fine...I just didn't want to miss our connection.

When the train pulled into Penn Station, my only thought was to find a Red Cap...little did I know what a mad house Penn Station would be. First, it was so hot on the platform that I was gettting sweaty and flustered LOL . Second, we got up the escalators, and were released into this sea of people waiting for their platform number to be called. I started to panic a little, so I stepped to the side and we waited for the rush to pass.

We must have looked lost because next thing I new, this older gentleman (who was a Red Cap by the way), came over and had this conversation with us:
"Ladies, is it just me or do we seem to be a little flustered over here?"
[We said yes, and he told us to hang on for a second while he got a cart for our luggage. He soon came back and loaded our luggage.]
"I've seen guys who take the train everyday get nervous with the mid day rush...if I'm not mistaken, this is your first time in Penn Station?"
"Yeah it is, the crowds took us by surprise"
"No worries, I've got you a seat all set up over there in the waiting room...you just relax and I'll come get you when your train is ready!"

Now, the service we got in Boston was nice, but I was almost in tears that this man was so kind to us "tourists" lol. My mind was at ease, and we could finally relax. Within 45 minutes our Red Cap came to get us and brought us down to our train, took care of our luggage, and told us to get a tan for him

I can't thank him enough for the kindness he showed us. In the craziness of the moment I never thought to look at his nametag, but I hope that he knows he helped us tremendously!

Here we are just starting out on our Penn Station - Kissimmee leg of the trip. Don't mind that I look all red...remember that I told you the platform at Penn Station was HOT, well I had UnderArmour on to stay warm on the train, so I was overheating.

Next up, our experience with 21 hours on the train...with NO DELAYS, yeah that's right...Amtrak, which is known for its delays did not experience a single one on our trip.

Continued in next post​

 

[NewlyDisneyCrazed]

Can't wait to hear about your trip too! I know the August heat was hard to handle but I think we'll do it again. I loved that we didn't have to wait for any rides (hardly at all!)

I also agree about the dining plan...apps would have been nicer than dessert, but they are probably more costly for the restaurants. DH LOVED the dining plan but if it were up to only me, I don't think we'd get it again. We didn't really need that much food!

 

[spartankid34]

Can't wait to hear about your trip too! I know the August heat was hard to handle but I think we'll do it again. I loved that we didn't have to wait for any rides (hardly at all!)

I also agree about the dining plan...apps would have been nicer than dessert, but they are probably more costly for the restaurants. DH LOVED the dining plan but if it were up to only me, I don't think we'd get it again. We didn't really need that much food!

Thanks for coming and checking out my TR!! I think that if we went just a week later, then the crowds would've been lower, and August wouldn't be so scary, lol! The last few days were thinning out, but we were there and it was pretty packed...so maybe a week would make a difference for us...maybe August isn't quite out of the question yet!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining! I love hearing about mother / daughter trips!

 

[spartankid34]

I'm joining! I love hearing about mother / daughter trips!

Thank you for joining in!! I notice you have a TR going...I'll have to go take a look

 

[NewlyDisneyCrazed]

Thanks for coming and checking out my TR!! I think that if we went just a week later, then the crowds would've been lower, and August wouldn't be so scary, lol! The last few days were thinning out, but we were there and it was pretty packed...so maybe a week would make a difference for us...maybe August isn't quite out of the question yet!

You might be right that the difference of a week mattered. I guess it makes sense because that area started school on the 24th. Next time, go as late in August as possible. I heard September has the lowest crowds but I'm a teacher so no September holidays for me! Probably not for you either. Did you get a teaching job?

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[melmar136]

Hi there! I'm subscribing. I have wondered about taking the train from Boston, so I'll be waiting to hear how the rest of that went for you! The guy at Penn station sounded so nice and helpful!
Also, I just love mom and daughter trips. I take them with just my daughter all the time, although she is much younger. I hope we'll still be taking them together when she graduates college! Congrats on that btw!

 

[spartankid34]

And away we go, NYC to Kissimmee. We were all set and ready for our estimated 21 hour ride. I had brought plenty to keep us occupied; food, games, and movies...we were ready for anything I had read up about Amtrak before our trip, and read that the food on board was pretty pricey, so we packed some sandwiches, salads, and snacks to keep us full on our trip. We did eat breakfast on board, just for the experience, but I'll get to that later.

This is what we had to look forward to!

It was a really neat experience to travel down the coast the way we did. I enjoyed stopping at each of the stops and seeing where we were each time. Just before getting into DC we dug into our sandwiches and had an early dinner...we were starving since we didn't get to grab lunch at Penn Station. It was so nice to have our own food on hand. The car attendents went up the train shortly after asking if people wanted to be seated at dinner, but we didn't want that as we had our own food! After that we were able to get out at the DC stop and stretch our legs before the long haul!

This is the view looking up the tracks during our break.

Oh and by the way...this is what the coach seats looked like. It was comfy enough, but if I had to be in those seats any longer than we were I would have been uncomfortable, it just got to be cramped after awhile, I was so happy when we got off, lol

Alright, so after our DC stretch, we got settled in for the trip. We took out the travel sized Scrabble game that we bought specifically for this trip. My mom and I love playing Scrabble, so this was great to pass some time, and to have fun.

After playing some Scrabble, we took a break from each other...but we still sat together LOL. I read my book, while mom took a nap! Time seemed to be going pretty quickly, and I was impressed by train travel. The bathrooms were small, but clean, our attendents seemed to be on top of keeping them clean (THANK YOU!)

Like I said before, time seemed to be passing quickly, and before we knew it, it was quiet hours (10pm). I got my carryon down from the rack and got out our towels (we used towels as our blankets for the night because I knew they'd work just fine, and blankets would take too much room). So our towels were out, and we settled in for the night, but not before watching a movie. Once that was over we tried to falls asleep. Mom slept like a rock, but I had a hard time, oh well...I'd be in Disney soon...who cares

I slept off and on, looking at my phone for the time every hour or so. I knew breakfast started at 6:30am, so as soon as it was time, mom and I got up and went to the dining car for breakfast. It was pretty good. I had scrambled eggs with bacon, and mom got scrambled eggs with toast. Not too bad, but sorta expensive, oh well! We were in Georgia during breakfast, and we watched a pretty sunrise while we ate.

After breakfast we headed back to our seats, and awaited our arrival. Most everyone who was up seemed to be restless...us included. It seemed that every little noise was bugging us, and that everyone just wanted off that train! It was a blessing when I asked our attendent if we were running late. He said NOPE, ON TIME!!! I was so excited that we'd be getting in on time. 6 hours after breakfast we pulled into Orlando, and I knew that Kissimmee was the next stop; we cleaned up our area and packed our things. Soon we arrived and I was off that train as quick as I could.

Now I want to say that our experience with that train was great. It was on time, our carmates were excellent, and time seemed to go by pretty quick. It wasn't until the morning that it seemed to drag. Would I do it again...not all the way to Florida, but it was a fun adventure, and something different for us. One couple who we had chatted with on the trip cancelled their return train trip and bought plane tickets to go home...they hated it and had a bad experience...I think that since I did so much research before, I knew what to expect, so I knew that it would be long and was ready for that. Oh well!!

Off the train we go...could we find a cab to get us to POP Century???? Find out next!

Continued in next post​

 

[spartankid34]

You might be right that the difference of a week mattered. I guess it makes sense because that area started school on the 24th. Next time, go as late in August as possible. I heard September has the lowest crowds but I'm a teacher so no September holidays for me! Probably not for you either. Did you get a teaching job?

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

I figured it would be less crowded when we left, but I planned the trip with the hopes of having a teaching job this year; and in NH we start around Aug. 30, so for the length of trip we wanted to take we had to go earlier...oh well, next time I know!! No teaching job unfortunately, just not that many out there right now. Still looking and applying though...

Hi there! I'm subscribing. I have wondered about taking the train from Boston, so I'll be waiting to hear how the rest of that went for you! The guy at Penn station sounded so nice and helpful!
Also, I just love mom and daughter trips. I take them with just my daughter all the time, although she is much younger. I hope we'll still be taking them together when she graduates college! Congrats on that btw!

Thanks for reading along! The Red Cap and Penn Station really made our trip...it would have just been horrible to miss our train or get upset trying to catch it...he was a great man to help us out!! I love taking trips with my mom, we've been very close since she is a single parent, I definitely enjoy the time I get to have with her...I hope that your daughter will still love to travel with you

The train was really a nice experience, something you'd have to try at least once. It's not for everyone though, since I did my (over)researching, I knew what to expect, for others on the train they seemed very upset at how long it took, or how chilly it was on board etc. Overall it was fun though!

 

[NewlyDisneyCrazed]

Taking the train sounds fun actually! I would like to do it sometime but likely not with kids and maybe a shorter distance. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[spartankid34]

Taking the train sounds fun actually! I would like to do it sometime but likely not with kids and maybe a shorter distance. Can't wait to hear more!

It really was fun, and it was a great adventure! My mom and I both enjoyed it, but it was just a little longer than we would have liked!! I'm sure you would love it!

 

[spartankid34]

Sorry for the delay in posting, I had a busy end to last week and a very busy weekend! Good news though, I have some time on my hands right now, so I'm hoping to get a couple posts done now!!

So when I left off last, we had just gotten off of our train in Kissimmee, FL. If anyone does take the train to WDW, the stop at Kissimmee is quicker; meaning that there are less people that get off and on the train there. As soon as we were off, and we got our luggage together we walked toward the back of the building where there were a bunch of taxis. I looked around and saw a man waiting for some passengers...us!! I asked him what the estimated charge would be to get to POP Century, and he told us $35. Perfect!! I had read online that a taxi could cost $50, so that sounded great to us. He took our luggage to a big van type taxi, and got our luggage settled; plenty of room for all of our luggage. At first I thought that he would get others to join us in the van, but he soon got in a we were off!!!!

The ride was really smooth and quick, probably about 20 minutes max, I think...I was too excited to really even pay attention, sorry!! lol. At one point I was nervous that we wouldn't pass under the famous sign, but as soon as we got on the highway, I knew we would, and no too long after we saw this...

I was super excited at this point, and very soon after we were driving by the new construction of AoA, so cool. This new resort is going to be big, but awesome! I didn't have my camera out for that because I wasn't expecting to see it! But I did have it out for this...

We were here!! I was smiling ear to ear, and I was so happy to be in Disney!! My mom was just kind of in shock, she didn't really remember that Disney does everything BIG, so when we pulled up and saw bowling pins and rubiks cubes, she was surprised! Our final taxi charge was $40, but our driver told us he wanted $35 since that is what he quoted us. He was so great, that I gave him the extra $5 anyway as an extra tip. We had luggage services check our bags, and we carried our little things inside to check-in. We did online check-in because we had left our room choice up to the room gods, we didn't request anything except a fridge for my mom's medicine!

We found out that we'd be in the 50's section!! I was so happy because we were celebrating my mom's birthday, and it was in the 50's, and oh...I LOVE lady and the tramp!! We walked to our room and I took a few pictures.

The decade I was born in.

The decade my mom was born in with her in front.

My favorites.

We got to our room within a five minute walk...not bad at all for not being in the preferred rooms! We got settled in and waited for our luggage. I had completely forgotten that my mom's medicine was in one of the bags we checked...oops, so we called down to have it sent up ASAP...and within 5 minutes they were there. I was so impressed with their service.. THANK YOU!!

Next up...our first night in Disney!!!

Continued in next post​

 

[Busymom85]

Enjoying your report so far. Looking forward to the rest. We will be staying at the POP for the first time so will be interested in what you think.

 

[kirrrby]

Enjoyed reading, we took the Amtrak years ago from NC to FL so we knew it was going to be long. Looking forward to updates.

 

[justakrazymom]

I'm in... our trips overlapped..

 

[IheartDDuck]

Wow, that was really nice of the cab drive to give you the price on the fare that he quote you.

Arriving is always the best. I think the anticipation for getting there is just great.

Nice that you got a good room assignment too! I've heard good things about the 50's. I've stayed in the 60's, 70's, and 90's. The 60's was by far my favorite, but that may be also because I paid for preferred.

 

[spartankid34]

Enjoying your report so far. Looking forward to the rest. We will be staying at the POP for the first time so will be interested in what you think.

Thanks for reading along!! POP was really great for what we needed. It such a big place that you don't really notice the crowds that much; the pools, food, and bus stops were all very manageable!!

Enjoyed reading, we took the Amtrak years ago from NC to FL so we knew it was going to be long. Looking forward to updates.

Thanks for joining in!! We really enjoyed the train ride, thank goodness I had done some research, or I think we would have been miserable..not knowing what to expect.

I'm in... our trips overlapped..

Thanks for reading!! I just hopped over to your TR to read along too.

Wow, that was really nice of the cab drive to give you the price on the fare that he quote you.

Arriving is always the best. I think the anticipation for getting there is just great.

Nice that you got a good room assignment too! I've heard good things about the 50's. I've stayed in the 60's, 70's, and 90's. The 60's was by far my favorite, but that may be also because I paid for preferred.

I was very impressed with this cab driver, usually they get you for every cent, but he was good to his word!! I really enjoyed being in the 50's section, it was nice and quiet...which was nice for sleeping, but it wasn't too far from all the action. It was never more than a 5 minute walk to Classic Hall!!