mkluvsmickey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2007
- Messages
- 3,990
Here it is my first attempt at a Trip Report. I love to read everyone elses reports and hope that mine will be at least a little interesting. For those of you who have not read my Pre-Trip Report and want to you can find it here:
POP and MNSSHP 10/17-10/21 Pre Trip Report
Some of this will be repetitious from the PTR but for clarity I will introduce the cast again:
Me (35) Michelle: I work in the accounting field and am fortunate to have my office in my home (more time to DIS during the day!
). Self-proclaimed Disney nut! Favorite character = Mickey. We live about 2 ½ hours from WDW and would be tempted to go every weekend if I didnt have 5 four legged children at home (3 dogs/2 cats). Pet sitting gets quite expensive!
DH (40) Erik: He works in Marketing for a bank. He is not a big Disney fan but puts up with my Disney addiction. He doesnt go as often as DD and I but that is ok with him. He wont be joining us on this trip. Favorite character = Donald Duck.
DD (7) Samantha: 2nd Grader. She loves all things Disney just like her mom. (Lately she has been enjoying the DIS with me she loves to look at all the tickers to see who is going when.) Erik thinks Ive brainwashed her! She is currently into High School Musical and Hannah Montana. She still likes the princesses but not as much as last year. Favorite character = Minnie and favorite princess = Belle.
Here is a picture of our family (the baby is our niece):
The Plan
Since we live so close to WDW, Samantha and I have the Florida residents seasonal pass and try to go as often as possible, even if it is only for a weekend.
Last year (2006) we were able to make 5 trips and stayed at a variety of resorts Caribbean Beach, All Star Movies, Boardwalk Inn, All Start Music and Contemporary.
This year we went on a 3 night Disney cruise in February and then went to WDW for a weekend in May (Port Orleans-French Quarter).
Samanthas school has a two day fall break each October so weve made it a tradition to go to Disney then and attend MNSSHP. Our first year doing this October trip we stayed at Pop Century and had such a great time that we decided to try again. Pop Century is my favorite value resort and I even like it better than Caribbean Beach. So, the dates were set we would be leaving after school on Wednesday October 17 and staying until Sunday October 21. I booked Pop Century at the rack rate about 6 months in advance to be sure I could get it. Then, when the AP and Florida resident rates were released I was able to get a substantial discount on our room.
My mom decided to join us on this trip and my sister will be coming up to spend one day and night with us.
Day One: Wednesday October 17, 2007
Arrival, Samanthas Dream and a DIS meet!
I started the day with one appointment for work then it was back to the house to finish the packing and load the car. Then I vacuumed and mop all of the floors I just hate to come back to a dirty house! I had lunch duty with Samanthas class at noon and then came back to the house where I had a little more than an hour before I had to leave to pick her up. I wrote a note to the pet sitter and spent some time with my animals. I always feel so guilty leaving them and they know what is going on as soon as I bring the suitcases out. And, I was leaving them with a new pet sitter so I was of course worried about that. Finally the time came to leave the house and pick up Samantha from school.
I made sure to be the first car in the pickup line so we could hurry on out of there. The mom of a boy in Samanthas class was behind me and it turns out they were going to Disney too. The boy came out first and the mom pulled up next to me and joked Were going to beat you now!
Samantha came out next. As soon as she got in the car she pulled out a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from her backpack (I didnt know she had packed these) and said Lets go! 
We headed straight to pick up my mom at her house which is about 15 minutes away and were on the Florida turnpike by 3:15. We made one pit stop on the way and arrived at POP at exactly 6:00.
We had been joking the entire trip up that we hoped my car would make it. My car has over 100,000 miles on it and though I havent had any problems Im always a bit worried on a long trip. When we finally parked at the resort I said, OK we made it. The car can break down now! Well, I think I jinxed myself as you will see on Sundays report.
Check in was a breeze there was nobody in line in front of us. Emilie from France checked us in. Samantha thought her accent was really neat and my mom told her that she pronounced my name the way it is supposed to sound. While we were checking in there were some POP staff that were in the lobby dancing to the hustle and YMCA.
I just love the festive atmosphere of this resort and enjoy looking at the pictures and memorabilia on the walls. When we were done checking in and walking away, Emilie told us to hold on a minute, she had something for us. Hmmmm, I wondered what it could be. I was hoping maybe it was a YOMD upgrade to a deluxe resort or something. She came out with a gift basket for Samantha. I had ordered a gift basket for her through Memories by Betsy. I thought they were going to deliver it to the room but they brought it right out to Samantha. Well, Samantha thought she had won something from the YOMD and was soooo excited to receive this. My mom and I played along and wondered with her why she got picked for this awesome gift basket. All night she kept asking how come she got chosen to get this and I told her that Mickey must think she is pretty special. This was the perfect start to our trip. 
This is Samantha in the POP lobby with her gift basket from Mickey:
The gift basket had a Pal Mickey (I had promised her one on this trip), an Epoct passport and some High School Musical jewelry.
Before heading to our room we went to the food court for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Chicken (excellent!), my mom had a cheese pizza and Samantha had a hot dog. Everyone was happy with their meals. Samantha got a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. My mom and I thought wed get some dessert later (which we never did). I love the food court here too. It seems to be designed better than the All Stars. It feels like there are a lot of separate sections and not just one big room. We love the Everything Pop store too and spent some time browsing after dinner.
We drove over to the 50s section to find our room. We were in the 50s section, Building 1, Room 1316 (3rd floor). Great location! We were in the building next to the main building and close to two of the three pools.
We brought our stuff into the room and Samantha and I unpacked all of our stuff. My mom didnt unpack she would rather live out of suitcase!
Here is me unpacking - a must do on a trip of any length!
Samantha opened her gift basket and had fun looking through everything.
I have to say that I love the Pal Mickey! I was a little hesitant at first because it is expensive and Id heard mixed reviews. Samantha had asked for one on the last few trips and I kept putting it off. I did some review here on the DIS and read mostly good reports on it. I was pretty impressed with him! He will play games, sing songs, tell jokes, etc when you are not in the parks. When you are in the parks, he gives you all sorts of tips and knows what area you are near (kind of scary!). He would tell us when there was a short line somewhere or the parade was going to start. Love him!
Anyway, after unpacking and watching Stacy on TV, we walked around the resort a bit. I love the outside between the buildings where there are a lot of trees and brush. We walked around the store a bit more and then Samantha was ready to hit the pool! My mom and I lounged on the chairs while Samantha swam. It was really a nice night out not too hot and not too cold.
We had a DIS meet scheduled for 9:30! I was wondering how we would know each other and if anyone would show up. Annette (acourtwdw) had taken my cell phone number and around 9:00 or so she sent a text message saying she and her sister Amanda were on their way. We were supposed to be meeting Jenn (princessjv) and possible a few others. At around 9:30 I see a girl with a son out by the pool. The girl had on a lime green shirt so I thought maybe this was Jenn. Then I saw a lime green ribbon tied onto her purse! It had to be Jenn! I walked up to her tentatively and asked, Are you Jenn? Once we got over the initial awkwardness we had a lot of fun talking to each other. Her son and Samantha swam together and seemed to get along quite well. After a few minutes, we saw Annette and Amanda walk up. We all sat around a table by the pool for an hour or so chit chatting about Disney and our lives. It was so much fun to meet everyone! Annette and Amanda had just arrived that day and were staying at SSR (I think) and they still came all the way over to POP to meet with us! Im so glad they did! They made us all LGMH clips to attach to a bag. Very thoughtful and they came in handy - the ones I made fell apart!
Nobody else showed up or maybe they just couldnt find us (I hope not!). We finally said our good byes around 11:00 and hoped to maybe run into each other over the next few days (but we never did). I have a few pictures from the night with my fellow DISers but I will wait to ask their permission before posting.
I got Samantha out of the pool and we headed back to the room. Samantha and my mom fell right asleep. I, of course, was too excited for our next day and had a hard time sleeping. It was after midnight the last time I looked at the clock and I know I woke up many times throughout the night. Our wakeup call was set to come at 6:30 am!
Up next, Day 2 Magic Kingdom, Family Magic Tour, BBB and MNSSHP!!!
POP and MNSSHP 10/17-10/21 Pre Trip Report
Some of this will be repetitious from the PTR but for clarity I will introduce the cast again:
Me (35) Michelle: I work in the accounting field and am fortunate to have my office in my home (more time to DIS during the day!
). Self-proclaimed Disney nut! Favorite character = Mickey. We live about 2 ½ hours from WDW and would be tempted to go every weekend if I didnt have 5 four legged children at home (3 dogs/2 cats). Pet sitting gets quite expensive! DH (40) Erik: He works in Marketing for a bank. He is not a big Disney fan but puts up with my Disney addiction. He doesnt go as often as DD and I but that is ok with him. He wont be joining us on this trip. Favorite character = Donald Duck.
DD (7) Samantha: 2nd Grader. She loves all things Disney just like her mom. (Lately she has been enjoying the DIS with me she loves to look at all the tickers to see who is going when.) Erik thinks Ive brainwashed her! She is currently into High School Musical and Hannah Montana. She still likes the princesses but not as much as last year. Favorite character = Minnie and favorite princess = Belle.
Here is a picture of our family (the baby is our niece):
The Plan
Since we live so close to WDW, Samantha and I have the Florida residents seasonal pass and try to go as often as possible, even if it is only for a weekend.
Last year (2006) we were able to make 5 trips and stayed at a variety of resorts Caribbean Beach, All Star Movies, Boardwalk Inn, All Start Music and Contemporary.
This year we went on a 3 night Disney cruise in February and then went to WDW for a weekend in May (Port Orleans-French Quarter).
Samanthas school has a two day fall break each October so weve made it a tradition to go to Disney then and attend MNSSHP. Our first year doing this October trip we stayed at Pop Century and had such a great time that we decided to try again. Pop Century is my favorite value resort and I even like it better than Caribbean Beach. So, the dates were set we would be leaving after school on Wednesday October 17 and staying until Sunday October 21. I booked Pop Century at the rack rate about 6 months in advance to be sure I could get it. Then, when the AP and Florida resident rates were released I was able to get a substantial discount on our room.
My mom decided to join us on this trip and my sister will be coming up to spend one day and night with us.
Day One: Wednesday October 17, 2007
Arrival, Samanthas Dream and a DIS meet!
I started the day with one appointment for work then it was back to the house to finish the packing and load the car. Then I vacuumed and mop all of the floors I just hate to come back to a dirty house! I had lunch duty with Samanthas class at noon and then came back to the house where I had a little more than an hour before I had to leave to pick her up. I wrote a note to the pet sitter and spent some time with my animals. I always feel so guilty leaving them and they know what is going on as soon as I bring the suitcases out. And, I was leaving them with a new pet sitter so I was of course worried about that. Finally the time came to leave the house and pick up Samantha from school.
I made sure to be the first car in the pickup line so we could hurry on out of there. The mom of a boy in Samanthas class was behind me and it turns out they were going to Disney too. The boy came out first and the mom pulled up next to me and joked Were going to beat you now!
Samantha came out next. As soon as she got in the car she pulled out a pair of Minnie Mouse ears from her backpack (I didnt know she had packed these) and said Lets go! We headed straight to pick up my mom at her house which is about 15 minutes away and were on the Florida turnpike by 3:15. We made one pit stop on the way and arrived at POP at exactly 6:00.We had been joking the entire trip up that we hoped my car would make it. My car has over 100,000 miles on it and though I havent had any problems Im always a bit worried on a long trip. When we finally parked at the resort I said, OK we made it. The car can break down now! Well, I think I jinxed myself as you will see on Sundays report.
Check in was a breeze there was nobody in line in front of us. Emilie from France checked us in. Samantha thought her accent was really neat and my mom told her that she pronounced my name the way it is supposed to sound. While we were checking in there were some POP staff that were in the lobby dancing to the hustle and YMCA.
I just love the festive atmosphere of this resort and enjoy looking at the pictures and memorabilia on the walls. When we were done checking in and walking away, Emilie told us to hold on a minute, she had something for us. Hmmmm, I wondered what it could be. I was hoping maybe it was a YOMD upgrade to a deluxe resort or something. She came out with a gift basket for Samantha. I had ordered a gift basket for her through Memories by Betsy. I thought they were going to deliver it to the room but they brought it right out to Samantha. Well, Samantha thought she had won something from the YOMD and was soooo excited to receive this. My mom and I played along and wondered with her why she got picked for this awesome gift basket. All night she kept asking how come she got chosen to get this and I told her that Mickey must think she is pretty special. This was the perfect start to our trip. This is Samantha in the POP lobby with her gift basket from Mickey:
The gift basket had a Pal Mickey (I had promised her one on this trip), an Epoct passport and some High School Musical jewelry.
Before heading to our room we went to the food court for dinner. I had the Parmesan Crusted Chicken (excellent!), my mom had a cheese pizza and Samantha had a hot dog. Everyone was happy with their meals. Samantha got a piece of chocolate cake for dessert. My mom and I thought wed get some dessert later (which we never did). I love the food court here too. It seems to be designed better than the All Stars. It feels like there are a lot of separate sections and not just one big room. We love the Everything Pop store too and spent some time browsing after dinner.
We drove over to the 50s section to find our room. We were in the 50s section, Building 1, Room 1316 (3rd floor). Great location! We were in the building next to the main building and close to two of the three pools.
We brought our stuff into the room and Samantha and I unpacked all of our stuff. My mom didnt unpack she would rather live out of suitcase!
Here is me unpacking - a must do on a trip of any length!
Samantha opened her gift basket and had fun looking through everything.
I have to say that I love the Pal Mickey! I was a little hesitant at first because it is expensive and Id heard mixed reviews. Samantha had asked for one on the last few trips and I kept putting it off. I did some review here on the DIS and read mostly good reports on it. I was pretty impressed with him! He will play games, sing songs, tell jokes, etc when you are not in the parks. When you are in the parks, he gives you all sorts of tips and knows what area you are near (kind of scary!). He would tell us when there was a short line somewhere or the parade was going to start. Love him!
Anyway, after unpacking and watching Stacy on TV, we walked around the resort a bit. I love the outside between the buildings where there are a lot of trees and brush. We walked around the store a bit more and then Samantha was ready to hit the pool! My mom and I lounged on the chairs while Samantha swam. It was really a nice night out not too hot and not too cold.
We had a DIS meet scheduled for 9:30! I was wondering how we would know each other and if anyone would show up. Annette (acourtwdw) had taken my cell phone number and around 9:00 or so she sent a text message saying she and her sister Amanda were on their way. We were supposed to be meeting Jenn (princessjv) and possible a few others. At around 9:30 I see a girl with a son out by the pool. The girl had on a lime green shirt so I thought maybe this was Jenn. Then I saw a lime green ribbon tied onto her purse! It had to be Jenn! I walked up to her tentatively and asked, Are you Jenn? Once we got over the initial awkwardness we had a lot of fun talking to each other. Her son and Samantha swam together and seemed to get along quite well. After a few minutes, we saw Annette and Amanda walk up. We all sat around a table by the pool for an hour or so chit chatting about Disney and our lives. It was so much fun to meet everyone! Annette and Amanda had just arrived that day and were staying at SSR (I think) and they still came all the way over to POP to meet with us! Im so glad they did! They made us all LGMH clips to attach to a bag. Very thoughtful and they came in handy - the ones I made fell apart!
Nobody else showed up or maybe they just couldnt find us (I hope not!). We finally said our good byes around 11:00 and hoped to maybe run into each other over the next few days (but we never did). I have a few pictures from the night with my fellow DISers but I will wait to ask their permission before posting. I got Samantha out of the pool and we headed back to the room. Samantha and my mom fell right asleep. I, of course, was too excited for our next day and had a hard time sleeping. It was after midnight the last time I looked at the clock and I know I woke up many times throughout the night. Our wakeup call was set to come at 6:30 am!
Up next, Day 2 Magic Kingdom, Family Magic Tour, BBB and MNSSHP!!!
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Finally I get to start at the beginning of someone's trip report and keep up as it's going as opposed to staying up for hours reading 30 pages of someone's just to get caught up! For some reason, I always show up late to these things.
HEY!!!!
I love you guys even if you're mean to me!
Glad you are reading! Isn't it sad that they are already starting to grow out of the princess stage! 
I'm trying to encourage the "little girl" stuff as long as possible. 
