On My Way to Earning My Ears - An Aug 2016 Pre DCP Adventure Updated 8/25

[Carathryn]

Hello everyone! If you have read one of my other two trip reports, welcome back! If this is your first time thanks for stopping by!

First up, I am currently participating in the Disney College Program as a Photopass Photographer based out of Epcot. So between working and playing in the parks this may be a slowly updated trip report compared to my last two. If anyone wants to follow along with my DCP adventure in real time I made an Instagram account that I am trying to keep updated, my username is “caragoestodisney”. I may also throw in a couple dining reviews/extra content to this trip report if anyone is interested.

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So to get started with this trip report, here are some fun facts about me and my mom just for fun. My mom is my number one Disney travel companion because she is now just as obsessed as I am, loves trying new things, and is ok with my leaving her to go explore on my own when she needs some relaxing resort time.

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Me:

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Number of visits to WDW: This would be my 5th visit to WDW
Favorite Park: Epcot (Epcot is currently my home and I have a sudden, intense love for this park)
Favorite Ride: I am not good at picking one but at the moment it is Spaceship Earth, Tower of Terror, or Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid
Favorite Restaurant: Be Our Guest or California Grill
Favorite Disney Movie: Beauty and the Beast or Monster’s Inc.


Mom: (She is better at choosing favorites than I am)

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Number of Visits to WDW: This would be her 6th visit to WDW
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite Restaurant: Sci Fi Dine In or Ohana
Favorite Disney Movie: Frozen, Monsters Inc

And here are most of the trip details!

Dates: August 3rd – August 8th, 2016
Resorts: We stayed at 3 Disney resorts, yes 3, yes we may be crazy. If you read my attempt at a PTR you may know 2 of the 3 resorts but I will wait to surprise you with the third one as it was a last minute decision.
Other details: We had a military salute 4 day park hopper and lots of ADRs.

The first update will be posted shortly!

 

[ariane37]

Here I am!! I'll be patient waiting for updates So glad you're enjoying the program so far and I look forward to hearing about the time you spent with mom before you started!

 

[mandyyyrose]

Hi! I'm awful at following trip reports but I'm on insta all the time so I follow you now! And I think you followed me back, so hi! I'm mandyyyrose on insta!

 

[BippityBrittany]

can't wait to read more!
i also worked at epcot during my dcp and still consider it my home and have an everlasting
love for that place

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay I'm glad you've started this report! I hope your DCP is going amazing so far! Just followed you on IG

 

[Carathryn]

Here I am!! I'll be patient waiting for updates So glad you're enjoying the program so far and I look forward to hearing about the time you spent with mom before you started!

Yay you're here!!! And before you know it we will both be at WDW!!!

Hi! I'm awful at following trip reports but I'm on insta all the time so I follow you now! And I think you followed me back, so hi! I'm mandyyyrose on insta!

I feel you, actually being at WDW has made me terrible at following trip reports but I am so glad you found me on IG!!!

can't wait to read more!
i also worked at epcot during my dcp and still consider it my home and have an everlasting
love for that place

Epcot family! Where did you work? I have always liked eating and drinking at Epcot but actually working here has given me such a great appreciation for it. I am spending a good chunk of my time off just wandering around Epcot trying to do everything.

Yay I'm glad you've started this report! I hope your DCP is going amazing so far! Just followed you on IG

Thank you!!! I am having an amazing time! I saw you found me on IG!

 

[Carathryn]

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

My mom flew from Denver to Chicago. I picked her up from the airport and we hit the road. The 17 hour drive to WDW was luckily very uneventful. It went by as fast as a 17 hour road trip possibly could and we had no traffic problems or car issues. Everything ran so smoothly that I will not bore you with an account of our 17 hours on the road. Instead, I will jump right into the Disney part!

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

And we made it!
My first ever time driving (as in not riding DME) into WDW and now I am lucky enough to drive under this sign every single day!
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The original plan was to get to WDW sometime Thursday morning after stopping somewhere within a couple hours of WDW on Wednesday night. However, we made such great time that we were pulling up to the welcome sign right at 5:37 pm on Wednesday. That gave us a whole extra night at Disney without a hotel booked. When we realized how early we could be to Disney the first thing I did was check the website to see what Disney rooms were available for the night. I saw that a Little Mermaid room was available at Art of Animation and was really excited to book it. My mom called the Disney booking phone number so we could apply a military discount, and we found out that Little Mermaid rooms are exempt from a military discount. I was a little sad but that sadness quickly turned to joy when we were able to book a room at an even better hotel for only $60 more. What hotel did we book? I will give you a hint.

We were staying in the left lanes


We drove straight on past the Wilderness Lodge and the Poly


And we pulled into the Contemporary!!!
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If you guessed the Contemporary than you are right! Of course for the low price we booked we ended up with a standard view room at the end of the garden wing. This was not a problem at all as it was still a super short walk to the main building, right next to the pool and the Bay lake, and I fell in love with the room.

The room did not have any over the top Disney decor but it felt luxurious yet still comfortable and there were some hidden mickeys




Notice the extra large shampoo, conditioner, and body wash!


I was especially in love with the bathroom​

(continued in next post)

 

[Carathryn]

Not only were we able to get a great deal on a room at the Contemporary, we also snagged a California Grill ADR for 7:15. This was especially exciting because it meant I could cancel my California Grill reservation on Sunday night when a Be Our Guest ADR opened up. So after quickly checking out our room, taking a very short shower, and changing clothes, we were on our way to check in for our ADR.

We checked in right on time and were taken up the elevator to the restaurant right away. We got to our table and found that we had the same waiter who we had in February. He was an amazing waiter in February so we were really happy to have him again. I forgot his name but will find out at some point. He has been serving at CG for many years and you can tell he enjoys his job.

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We already knew what we wanted to order so we placed our order quickly. We started with the truffle scented tofu roll and ordered the vegetarian unplugged. The vegetarian unplugged is an off menu order where chefs make up four different small plates with whatever they currently have in the kitchen. I like it because it lets me try lots of new food, most of which I have loved. With our order placed we went outside to look out on the Magic Kingdom and resorts from the observation decks. The sun was just started to go down and it was a beautiful view.

Hello castle!


Life is good, especially when you are staying at the Contemporary and eating at CG!​

We walked back to our table and soon after our vegetarian sushi arrived. This is the best sushi I have ever had.

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It isn’t your average vegetarian tofu roll. It is full of flavor and was amazing. I even took some back to the room as leftovers for the next day and it tasted just as good the following day.

After enjoying our sushi we went back outside as the sun was just starting to go down and it was beautiful.

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I love looking out on MK and the resorts while everything is orange and glowing.
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And as soon as we got back to our table our waiter brought this masterpiece.



The flatbread had corn and other vegetables on it and was surprisingly delicious. I wouldn’t think to order a corn flatbread but the flavors all worked really well together. The salad also had really good flavor and came with some sort of creamy cheese. My favorite selection was the mushrooms and green beans over some melt in your mouth creamy potatoes.

Since we had split an appetizer and entrée we had a little room left for dessert. We ordered the Banana Buzz.



I can’t tell you exactly what was in this but it was the perfect combination of creamy and crunchy banana flavors. If you like banana flavoring and don't want a dessert that is too heavy, this would be the perfect choice.

It was around 8:45 when we were done eating and paid for our meal. Wishes started at 10 that night. We wanted to view the fireworks show from CG but didn’t want to wait up there for an hour so we decided to run back to our room, grab our swim suits and enjoy 20 minutes in the hot tub before running back up to CG. Taking advantage of our Contemporary room we had just barely enough time but our plan worked. We made it back up to the observation area at 9:45 just as Celebrate the Magic was starting. We got a great spot right at the railing. Wishes was magical as always. I may have shed a tear of happiness. I spent the whole time taking in the fireworks and music and did not take a single picture so you will just have to imagine it, or better yet go see it in person!

Following Wishes we made a stop back at the hot tub before retiring for the night. Both of us were exhausted from the drive to Florida so we passed out right away.

We almost had the whole pool and hot tub to ourselves!
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UP NEXT: What to do with an unplanned morning!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay for getting a night at the Contemporary! And getting to eat at California Grill the first night! Luck was on your side Sounds like a great evening at dinner and watching the fireworks!

 

[BippityBrittany]

california grill is always a great choice!
love the spur of the moment, go with the flow choice of choosing to say at contemporary! even though i love AoA (stayed in a cars suite) i say you made the right choice of hotel, especially for the price

 

[ariane37]

Hi Cara! We're back That's awesome you got a night at the Contemporary and I love the pictures of your room, I don't think I've ever seen room pics there except for stock photos.
Hope all is still going well with the DCP and you had a nice visit with your mom earlier this week. While Steve and I were on the Undiscovered Futureworld tour Tues. we walked by groups of CM's backstage twice; looked like training groups. I was straining my neck trying to see if I could pick you out!!