Smolders, Blisters, and Getting Punched in the Stomach! Our April 2011 Adventure!

[Tinkerbell Teen]

Welcome, Disboarders, to my very first trip report! We had an amazing fourth trip to the World from April 3rd to 10th, and it was the best trip we've ever taken. I bet you came in here because of my interesting (and slightly violent) TR title.

Smolders came from this, the best moment of the trip (for me, anyway):

You can't really see the expressions, but you get the point.

Blisters came from the insane walking and park-hopping we did...

(no picture, I don't want to scare you all off!)

And getting punched in the stomach... Well, you'll just have to keep reading for that one. It's a good story, I promise.

So, without further adieu, let's get some introductions going!

Me: Hi there. I'm Shannon, I'm 17 years old, and I'll be your skipper, alligator wrestler, lion tamer and if you don't laugh at my jokes, I'll be your swimming instructor. My favourite Disney movie is Tangled, my favourite ride is Soarin', my favourite characters are Flynn Rider, Tinkerbell and Perry the Platypus, and this is my fourth trip to Walt Disney World. I'm an aspiring photographer, author, journalist and wannabe Jungle Cruise Skipper, and I love Disney World even more than I love Glee... well, maybe they're about the same. I am a teenage girl, after all.

Mom: My faithful trip companion, planner, provider, carrier of the personal pharmacy, Tangled line reserver, and one of my best friends. We are very close, and it was so much fun sharing this week with her. She's a Disboarder too, her username is plutopuppy and her real name is Karen. Her favourite ride is Soarin', her favourite characters are Pluto, Chip, and Dale, and this is her sixth trip to the World (she took one trip with her sister when they were in their 20s and one trip with my dad just after they met).

Here we both are at Epcot this year! ​

Dad: The sole reason we got to go to Disney... finances were tight but he agreed to send us on our trip. We really needed one, which I'll explain in a little bit. Dad is not a Disney fan... but he understands how much we love it and I can tell, his eyes lit up like a little kid when he saw the big bag of Mickey pretzels we brought him home (This may just be because it was a big bag of pretzels). He accompanied us on our first trip and has been our transportation to the airport for our three mom and daughter trips.

This is our third mother/daughter trip to Disney, and boy, did we need one. We dealt with a few deaths and it wasn't the happiest two years, so we were very greatful for a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth.

And I promise... THAT'S ALL OF THE BUMMING OUT IN THIS TRIP REPORT!

We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and we loved the resort. We had a giant planning binder/autograph book/mini-scrapbook and while it was a pain, it got us some awesome experiences with both cast members and characters. I will share some pics of it somewhere along the way of our report.

Alright, let the trip report begin!

Update Links!

Chapter 1: Arrival - "We Do NOT Get to Watch Donald Duck Cartoons!"
Chapter 2: DTD - "We're in Disney World and Mom's Most Excited to Ride a Boat."
Chapter 3: MK Part 1 - "The Land of Poutine!"
Chapter 4: MK Part 2 - "Now That's What I'm Talkin' Bout!"

Next chapter title: "We do NOT get to watch Donald Duck cartoons!"

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I'm in!!

I have so been planning on asking Flynn Rider for his smolder look

I also travel with my mom! We are going on our third trip together in August so I am excited to read about another mother daughter adventure!

 

[Tinkerbell Teen]

I'm in!!

I have so been planning on asking Flynn Rider for his smolder look

I also travel with my mom! We are going on our third trip together in August so I am excited to read about another mother daughter adventure!

DO IT! It was actually the photopass guy who asked him to do it, but it was still awesome.

Aww, that's awesome! It always feels so weird after a mother-daughter trip, being back at school and not having Mom around all the time.

 

[Tinkerbell Teen]

Our trip began at 3 o’clock in the morning.

I’m tired just thinking about it.

But, getting up at 3 is easy when you’re going to Disney World! I shot out of bed and grabbed a shower right after Mom woke me up. I was so excited, I was practically dancing with excitement all morning. I couldn’t believe that in just a few hours, we’d be in Disney World. I got dressed, did my hair and makeup and delivered my makeup and hairbrush to Mom to finish packing. I packed my things: she re-packed them. The whole morning, we were followed around by our poor, pathetic dog, Jazzy.

It was just sad. He walked around like this the whole morning. He knew we were leaving, he saw the suitcases.

Finally, it was time to go to Disney! We drove to Toronto to catch our flight (which left at 7AM). After a huge line at customs, we had just enough time to get a bagel from Tim Hortons and eat it before boarding. The flight was great, I watched Modern Family and Toy Story 3 on the in-flight system (since we had accidentally packed my portable DVD charger in the checked baggage so it wouldn’t work). When we finally arrived in Florida, it was hot, sunny, and beautiful out!

We headed quickly to the Magical Express desk and were escorted straight into the line for French Quarter, and then straight onto a bus! We didn’t get a front seat, but we also didn’t have to wait in line, so it evened out. We were on our way to Disney!

The welcome video began and soon we saw this:

We had to stop to drop off people at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs, so they showed some cartoons after the arrival video. This excited me, and caused me to squeal the first title quote of the trip: "We do NOT get to watch Donald Duck cartoons!"

And then we saw this:

And then this:

We had made it! We headed into the lobby to check in, we were LOVING French Quarter already. We finally made it to the desk after a short wait and our room was ready! It was even in building 4, just like we wanted. We were on the second floor, overlooking the parking lot, just a hop, skip and jump away from the bus stop! And it was a refurbed room, SCORE!

We changed clothes, I packed my backpack for the park, and we headed off to Downtown Disney for some shopping! We weren't tired yet!

Next Chapter: "We're in Disney World and Mom's most excited to ride a boat."

 

[loganpaulsmom]

It sounds great so far.. i am in for the rest..

 

[Jetsong]

....waiting for next installment....

 

[jacksonsmom]

We love POFQ!!!! Looking at the pictures makes me kind of sad we won't be staying there in June. Got a good deal at SSR and BWV that I couldn't pass up, but love POFQ! It is a perfect resort and I agree, we love building 4!!!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great start!

No better way to start a Disney vacay than a stop at Timmies We do the same thing...we actually go to the airport early to have our Timmies there!!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

 

[MelMel11]

Im in!! Great so far and cant wait for more!!

 

[Tinkerbell Teen]

Thanks for reading everyone! I will try to get a chapter up tomorrow before my mock trial competition, but if not tomorrow then definitely Friday.

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I am definitely going to ask him now that I know he makes the face

Great choices for entertainment on the flight! I love Modern Family!

There is nothing like riding on the ME! Great picture of the welcome sign! You are helping me get even more excited for my upcoming trip

for a great room! POFQ is a gorgeous resort!

Good luck at your mock trial competition! I am on the mock trial team at Eastern Michigan University.

 

[jdd]

I'm in! Supposed to be working this morning, but our server is down, so I can't get in to work!!! This is much better....

 

[awelke]

Can't wait to read the rest of your trip report! My mom and I and visiting Disney World together in August! I love mother daughter holidays!!!!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Great TR so far! It sounds like I'm not the only one who suffered from blisters on my most recent trip. It definitely stinks but you always remember Moving on... your dog is so adorable! They always make it harder to leave on these trips but of course, we must go because... IT'S DISNEY! I can't wait to hear more about your opinions of Port Orleans since I hope to stay there someday. Update as soon as you can!

 

[Tinkerbell Teen]

Thanks so much everyone! Sorry I couldn't update, I had a ton of homework to do and my mock trial competition lasted 5 hours! But on the bright side, my school team won, we're our district champions! I will update tomorrow night, but for now... I'M CELEBRATING

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Enjoying the report so far.

 

[Tinkerbell Teen]

So where I left you on Thursday was when we were about to head out to Downtown Disney! Our room was closer to the buses than the boat, but not very far from either. We loved that POFQ was so nice and close together, building-wise. Nothing was very far away! As we walked down toward the boat, Mom talked to some randoms with the video camera. She does this a lot.

Finally we arrived at the boat! I was teasing Mom about her excitement over this boat and the boat from Hollywood Studios to Epcot. This is where the title for this part comes "We're in Disney World and Mom's most excited to ride the boat!"

And much to Mom's extreme happiness, the boat came and we hopped on, heading right for Downtown Disney! And for the record, Mom did love the ride.

Look at the excitement here:

I would love to stay in these someday, they're so cool!

We're getting closer!

Finally we were pulling in here:

And it was CROWDED

We headed for Pin Traders first, just to have a look around.

After that, we headed for Tren-D, and my stupid self didn't take any pictures What kind of a Disboarder am I? The store was really cool, but I didn't see anything I LOOOVED. So we meandered over to World of Disney next for more browsing.

Mom and I loved these measuring spoons and cups (spoiler alert: I purchased them for her as a surprise in Animal Kingdom.)

I also bought this shirt in pink and green, except the Mickey was flowered. I actually wore my gren one to school today. :]

I love WoD but I was starting to get a bit of a headache from the combination of the flight, the lack of sleep, and the lack of food. So we headed out to the pretzel stand and ordered pretzels and slushies, which definitely took the edge off until we got back to the hotel.

Here's a picture of my home manicure from the night before: I'm pretty handy with a nail pen!

We grabbed the next boat back to French Quarter, since we really needed a nap. I almost fell asleep on the ride there. When we returned back, we took some pictures and then headed back to the room for a well-deserved rest.

​

We settled in, I found a Suite Life marathon on Disney Channel, the bags arrived just before we hopped into bed, and snuggled down for a rest before heading to the Magic Kingdom!

Up next: "The Land of Poutine!"​

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Great update!

I love the photos you took, especially the one inside the Pin Trading store. I miss that place so much, as if you can miss a store but still pin trading in general (<3) Downtown Disney is definitely a place that people downrate, I've had so much fun there, even with just window shopping. I also love that picture of the gator, so awesome. POFQ is intriguing me A LOT more. Can't wait to hear about your adventures in the parks!

Update soon!

 

[Disney_Jill]

Thanks so much everyone! Sorry I couldn't update, I had a ton of homework to do and my mock trial competition lasted 5 hours! But on the bright side, my school team won, we're our district champions! I will update tomorrow night, but for now... I'M CELEBRATING

That is awesome! Congrats to you and your team.

Great trip report so far. Your dog is soooo cute!! My dogs know when we are going away as soon as they see the suitcases.

 

[jelloarms]

Those spoons were really cute! We thought about buying it too but ultimatley decided against it. We did get the Mickey wisk though.