Ooo I'm really scaredd! A Sept '13 TR! updates x 4 10/13!

[blabbermouth]

Yay! You made it! Great seats on the ME, and cool that you got to use your MBs to board, they weren't set up yet when we got there.

Sounds like you had a fun bus ride too. It's so nice arriving when it's light out, it was dark and pouring when we got there, haha.

 

[MrsZ]

Eeeeek I just for so excited reading about your travel down!!! The fake monorail and ME always get me so excited. I practically run through the airport!!! Glad I'm not the only one!!

 

[courtneybelle]

I've flown Jetblue a couple times before, I love it! Can't beat the TVs.

Excellent choice on the pink MagicBand, that's the color I'm getting in November!

Little kids on the way to Disney warm my heart!

I love that you and your boyfriend take so many selfies, my boyfriend and I do that all the time too!

The gates of heaven!!! I'm getting so excited just reading about it!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

was so excited to see the start of your TR!! I started reading and my littlest, Madison, saw the first picture of you sitting at the airport and said "oooohhh, she's so pretty!" then she was very excited about the pictures of mickey on the movie and at the airport Disney store. I guess you have another fan of your TR!

I wish we had jetblue out here. since we're not a hub for any airline anymore (we're in St. Louis), southwest is the best we can do and is NOT cheap anymore.

p.s. did you cut your hair? it looks so cute!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining!

Ooohhh, Magic Bands. I get so jealous when I see them! They haven't converted us AP holders yet. But soon.....soon it will be mine!

 

[deedee2177]

Great update!! I saw some of your pics on Instagram...can't wait to read the story that goes with the pics!!

Also, just have to say you and you DBF are such a cute couple!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aw bummer on the phone charger. I so hate when companies constantly change the connector types, though sharing a charger is certainly not ideal anyway.

Haha, I kept trying to figure out if the girl in the gate photo is famous or something. Then I realized it was meant to be a picture of the sign.

Boarding back to front... what a concept. Now if only other airlines would understand why this makes sense...

I love that story about the bus driver finally moving to Florida. It just makes so much sense.

 

[MulingAround]

Aw bummer on the phone charger. I so hate when companies constantly change the connector types, though sharing a charger is certainly not ideal anyway.

Haha, I kept trying to figure out if the girl in the gate photo is famous or something. Then I realized it was meant to be a picture of the sign.

Boarding back to front... what a concept. Now if only other airlines would understand why this makes sense...

I love that story about the bus driver finally moving to Florida. It just makes so much sense.

Glad to know I wasn't the only one! I thought maybe it was op? But realized they aren't wearing the same thing

 

[jodi90]

Super excited to follow along with your TR. I loved seeing all the fun from your Instagram pics

 

[JessicaKnits]

I'm here! Can't wait to read alllllll about it!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Lunch for breakfast sounds exactly like something I would do! haha

Wow I didn't know JetBlue boards from back to front. That actually makes me really happy because it's always a nightmare boarding front to back, it never made any sense to me! haha

I'm glad the airport CMs were excited and friendly!

That little girl sounds adorable!

Yay for the fun that lies ahead in this TR!

I don't obey meal times with my food! I just eat!

Yeah I don't understand the boarding front to back deal either! It's clearly just a recipe for chaos and traffic!

Thanks for reading!

Ah I just got so excited reading those updates! It was like I was actually going to Disney again! EEEEK! So cool!!

Crappy that Chris left his charger at home!! Mine broke halfway through our Feb trip so we had to work with 1 charger for two phones, an i pod and an Ipad for a week, it was tough, lol!

Yay for getting the front seat and awesome pictures!! Yay! Yay for everything!!

AH I felt the same way writing them! All the excited feelings from travel day came back looking at the pictures!

Oh gosh yeah that would be a mess! Even if we had been able to share chargers, I think we would've had to buy another one!

Following!!! Can't wait to hear about your adventures!

Thanks for following and reading!

Yay! You made it! Great seats on the ME, and cool that you got to use your MBs to board, they weren't set up yet when we got there.

Sounds like you had a fun bus ride too. It's so nice arriving when it's light out, it was dark and pouring when we got there, haha.

It was fun to use the MBs right away! I had our booklet out just in case but it worked!

Boo dark and rainy but any time you're arriving at Disney is still happy!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Eeeeek I just for so excited reading about your travel down!!! The fake monorail and ME always get me so excited. I practically run through the airport!!! Glad I'm not the only one!!

Aha yes! I love the arrival at MCO! I was definitely moving full speed through the airport!!

I've flown Jetblue a couple times before, I love it! Can't beat the TVs.

Excellent choice on the pink MagicBand, that's the color I'm getting in November!

Little kids on the way to Disney warm my heart!

I love that you and your boyfriend take so many selfies, my boyfriend and I do that all the time too!

The gates of heaven!!! I'm getting so excited just reading about it!

Jetblue is definitely my favorite airline to fly! It helps that it's always cheap for us to fly on it too!

Yay pink is my favorite color!

Oh there are definitely abundant selfies for this TR! We're gonna get along well!

was so excited to see the start of your TR!! I started reading and my littlest, Madison, saw the first picture of you sitting at the airport and said "oooohhh, she's so pretty!" then she was very excited about the pictures of mickey on the movie and at the airport Disney store. I guess you have another fan of your TR!

I wish we had jetblue out here. since we're not a hub for any airline anymore (we're in St. Louis), southwest is the best we can do and is NOT cheap anymore.

p.s. did you cut your hair? it looks so cute!

Aw that is the sweetest thing I've ever heard! Glad to have both of you reading along!

Ah that is so annoying! I always hear people talking about Southwest being the cheapest for them but it's never cheap for us either!

Yes I did! Thank you so much! I hated it at first but I'm finally getting used to it now!

I'm joining!

Ooohhh, Magic Bands. I get so jealous when I see them! They haven't converted us AP holders yet. But soon.....soon it will be mine!

Glad to have you reading!

I did enjoy having the Magicbands but if it came down to an AP vs. a Magicband, I'd totally choose the AP!

Great update!! I saw some of your pics on Instagram...can't wait to read the story that goes with the pics!!

Also, just have to say you and you DBF are such a cute couple!!

Thank you! Glad to have you reading along and I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures!

And aw thanks! You're too sweet!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Aw bummer on the phone charger. I so hate when companies constantly change the connector types, though sharing a charger is certainly not ideal anyway.

Haha, I kept trying to figure out if the girl in the gate photo is famous or something. Then I realized it was meant to be a picture of the sign.

Boarding back to front... what a concept. Now if only other airlines would understand why this makes sense...

I love that story about the bus driver finally moving to Florida. It just makes so much sense.

Yeah sharing a charger would've been a mess!

I really wanted a picture of the sign since I took one in January but I was too lazy to get up and take it because it was so early in the morning!

I know! It really is the only logical way to board a plane so I don't know why it's so hard for the airlines to grasp!

Doesn't it though?!! I feel like I need to make that move!

Glad to know I wasn't the only one! I thought maybe it was op? But realized they aren't wearing the same thing

Sorry to be so confusing in my laziness!!!

Super excited to follow along with your TR. I loved seeing all the fun from your Instagram pics

Yay! So excited to have you here and on Insta!!

I'm here! Can't wait to read alllllll about it!

Yay glad to have you reading along!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I just wanted to say Thank you to everyone who commented/read! It's been a long, tough week at work and seeing all the lovely comments when I signed on literally made my week so much better!
-------------------------------------------------
Shortly after we made it through the magical gates, we were seeing our first stop:


IMG_2224 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Yay Pop Century!!

I mayyy have taken a picture of every single sign on the way into Pop. I apologize if you find this excessive. Please feel free to skip ahead.


IMG_2227 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2228 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


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IMG_2230 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I love how there are multiple signs that say "Are we there yet?!" Sounds like me on the way to Disney!


IMG_2231 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2232 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2233 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2234 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

YAY WE'RE HERE!


IMG_2235 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2237 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2238 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2239 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2241 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I controlled my excitement enough to allow the family with the adorable little girl to get off first and then we were off the bus and into the lobby! We were the first ones inside and got into the non-existant Online check-in line!

Within seconds, we were helped by a nice CPer (his name escapes me). I was afraid that our room wouldn't be ready yet since we were at Pop by 11:10 AM but was very happy to find out it was! Our room requests of the 60s section, ground floor were both met and we were in room 4162. The only problem he had was when I asked to verify if our need for a refrigerator for medical purposes was met and he wasn't really sure what to do in the computer. Another CM came over to help him out though and they said that the request was in the system and that a fridge would be brought to our room shortly.

After we had that all straightened out, we headed to the Concierge desk to pick up our Will Call MNSSHP tickets and the packages we had sent to our resort. This is when we hit our first problem with Magicbands. I told her the information for the Will Call tickets and all was fine until she asked to scan our Magicbands. Without thinking, I gave her the band and didn't ask why until after. She said, "Well, I'll just link the tickets to your band so that you don't have to worry about an actual ticket". Bad news bears.

I had read Chesire Figment's post saying that CMs had been warned against linking party tickets to bands so I wasn't thrilled. But instead of making a scene, I just asked if I could have paper tickets as well, just in case. She had no idea how to do that and called like 3 other CMs over before a manager came over. According to the manager, she had linked the Magicbands through our MDE by proxy and because of that, she couldn't print out regular tickets. She said that if I went to any Guest Relations desk, they may be able to do so. I was slightly annoyed and worried about having problems but decided to let it go for the moment.

A man from luggage services came with a cart to bring our packages back to our room so off we went!


IMG_2242 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2243 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I was so excited that we were back at Pop!


IMG_2244 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

We quickly arrived at our room and we had a great location! We were at the end of building 4 which is like the building behind the Hippy Dippy pool. There was only one room past ours and then there was the bridge to Art of Animation! It was nice and close to Classic Hall but also quiet since it was pretty much at the end of things!

After the nice luggage services man brought in our packages and refused our help, we tipped him and I started photographing the room-- starting with towel Mickey of course!


IMG_2245 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2247 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

He was apparently not as excited about pictures as I was.


IMG_2248 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

All the things we sent ahead! We shipped 2 cases of water and oats and protein powder for Chris.


IMG_2249 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I wanted to get up and explore the resort but Chris declared it nap time and when I protested he informed me it was tradition because that's what he did in January and he couldn't possibly break tradition.


IMG_2251 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

 

[lvcourtneyy]

While he napped (yes, he fell asleep seconds after the picture-- I mean, we had been up since 4!), I continued to freak out about the fact that our MNSSHP tickets were linked to our bands so naturally, I posted about it from the Disboards app on my phone. The consensus was that it was a bad idea and to try to undo it.

Chris didn't get a very long nap because less than 20 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was our luggage anddd literally after the door shut behind the luggage man, there was another knock on the door from mousekeeping with our refrigerator. We were very glad because the medications that needed to be kept cold were in an insulated bag with ice packs all day but obviously that wasn't the most ideal situation for them.

With those things taken care of, we rested a bit longer before I decided it was time to head out to Classic Hall and get our mugs.


DSCN2777 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

There was a cute little towel animal in our window when we arrived so I added towel Mickey to the decor.

The view from our room!


DSCN2778 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


DSCN2779 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


DSCN2781 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

There was literally not one minute of our entire trip that we saw no one in the pool. I mean, it was HOT so I totally get it but even when we left insanely early in the morning or came back really late at night, there was always at least one person swimming!


DSCN2782 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


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We got our mugs without incident and used the Rapidfill system for the first time. While we never had any problems with it, every single other person seemed to. I think the system does make it way over-complicated to fill up your mug but really, it's not THAT hard and people just couldn't do it. The name Rapidfill is totally just wishful thinking on the part of WDW.

While we were here, I did my first PIN TRADING of the trip because the pin board was out in the gift shop!

We went back to the room and Chris proceeded to continue napping. I tried to call my parents to let them know we made it and were alive but the service inside our room was seriously terrible. I went outside to call them from there and decided to check on the lovely Orlando weather forecast.


IMG_2253 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Seems about right.

This was when I discovered HOW CLOSE we were to the bridge to AoA! The view was literally breath-taking. I was so excited and proceeded to sit down in the area and stare while calling my parents. I explained the view to them and was seriously disappointed by their lack of understanding and excitement.


IMG_2255 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Could it get any more gorgeous?!! AHHH!


IMG_2256 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_2257 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I went back to the room and woke Chris up to inform him of my discovery. His lack of excitement, which I'll blame on the fact that I just woke him up, was just as disappointing. Whatever, I was excited so that's all that matters.

We then got ready to head to Downtown Disney and were at the bus stop at around 2:25.


DSCN2787 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


DSCN2788 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

First glimpse of the new buses!


DSCN2789 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

We waited about 10 minutes for a bus and were on our way!


IMG_2258 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

 

[blabbermouth]

Nice Pop pics, I totally get taking photos of anything you can get your eyes on, haha.

Nice room location! I bet it was really quiet, and a nice view

I loved the windowsill towel animals, extra cute.

The pools were only empty when there was lightning in the area

The rapidfill was fine for us too, I didn't even really notice it to be honest.

I hope you got your MNSSHP tickets figured out!!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Naptime tradition? That sounds like an excellent idea! Of course, I wouldn't have been able to sleep because I would have been stressed out about our tickets too. The magic band thing is freaking me out a little. Can't wait to see what you guys think of them during the trip.

Your pics of POP are cute. It looks like a fun place! I like the playdoh pic!

Ugh--that forecast look HOT! I hope it didn't really rain on you every day!

 

[katt789]

Yay for multiple updates!!!!

Oh my gosh, I love all the pictures going into Pop, it’s just such a “home” resort for me, after staying there the first 3 trips, its purely awesome and really says “Disney” to me! Glad you were excited!!

Yay for getting a fridge and everything else you requested, it’s great when it all works out, right?!

Ugh, I hope this isn’t foreshadowing for the magic bands being a problem…

Aw man, I would so not be down for a nap if I got there that early, I’d be all “see ya biiieeee going to Magic Kingdom!” Lol Ugh, these pictures are killing me, I really want to stay at Pop again now! Lol.

 

[shan23877]

Yay! You've arrived!

LOL traditional arrival day nap? Sounds like something my DH would pull.

What an amazing view! So pretty.You could have posted on your PTR about it, we would have understood

Not excited about possible party tix snafu...

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

No apologies needed. I LOVE all the POP signs, ESPECIALLY "Are We There Yet?" Brilliant!

OK, so you can pick up Will Call party tickets at concierge? That's good to know. I'll be keeping tabs on the Magic Band situation though. Maybe by December things will be worked out.

BAHAHAHA, Ok, that just cracked me up royally. Nap time tradition! Doesn't he know there's no sleeping in Disney!! Especially at arrival. Haha, that's so comical.