So we graduated high school... LET'S GO TO DISNEY WORLD! 8/13 TRIP REPORT LINK!

[ThisIsBrenn]

Hi there! My name is Brennah, I'm 18, and this is my first pre-trip report
I'm rather new to the Disboards, I only discovered it this summer and haven't done much posting other than getting involved in a Fish Extender for a cruise my family went on (best decision EVER, fifth Disney cruise and the FE was a fun new perk to add to everything). I have done my fair share of lurking on posts though, especially trip reports. I like living through others when I can't be on my own Disney trip xD

Anyway, that was a lot of rambling, let's get to the point...

I'm going on my first Disney trip without my parents this summer! Me and my three friends have booked a trip from August 3rd to August 8th as our last get together before we all leave for college. So, introductions...

That's me (on the Disney Magic this summer )
I'm a Disney veteran. I think I was 3 or 4 when I first went to Disney World with my parents. When I was 6, we made our first trip to Disney's Vero Beach resort and became DVC members. Starting in 2004 we started making annual trips to DW, usually in November, and now I'm a bit Disney addicted haha

That's Lindsay, she's also 18, and her family is just as Disney addicted it mine. We have kind of been the main planners of the trip so far since we've been there so many times.

That's Katy, she's 17, and slightly in the know about Disney. Her grandparents live in Florida, so she's done some day trips to the parks but I'm not sure if she's done a full on Disney trip before. Her mom will be our "chaperone" as she'll be with the grandparents just in case something goes wrong while we're there.

And last we have Alison! She's 17 and has only been to Disney once, so she's really excited to go back!

We will be staying at Allstar Movies as we are all poor high school students, soon to be poor college students xD I seriously considered staying in a tent at the campground but I figure AC would be a must in August, haha. I'm actually excited to see this resort though, I've only stayed in DVC rooms before (with the exception of a stay at Port Orleans for a cheer competition when I was 11). The trip is booked, but only the deposit's down. We also have our flights AND all of our ADR's as of a day ago (I'll make a separate post about that). Now all we have to do is wait! And enjoy senior year... that's important too

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Table of Contents

Tentative ADR's

More ADRs?!? HELP!

Saving money... and then spending it on concerts

Official ADRs!

Money, Movies, and Prom

Graduation, Luggage Tags, and Check In

Mini Europe Trip Report!

TOMORROW!

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Hi there. Going to follow along as we will be celebrating DS18, DS19 graduation too. Right now we are booked for June, but just received news that we will have to push the trip back...the same time you are going to be there.

BTW, the Disney merchandise folks told me the GradEars will be available later March/April, in case you were going to get them too.

Congratulations on your accomplishments!

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Hi there. Going to follow along as we will be celebrating DS18, DS19 graduation too. Right now we are booked for June, but just received news that we will have to push the trip back...the same time you are going to be there.

BTW, the Disney merchandise folks told me the GradEars will be available later March/April, in case you were going to get them too.

Congratulations on your accomplishments!

Thanks! We were planning on buying the GradEars too so that's good to know

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

So right now we have a good idea of where we're going each day and have some dinner reservations booked. The restaurants are not one hundred percent set in stone yet, we just wanted to make sure we had something booked, and if we change our minds we'll cancel and rebook. Plus Lindsay was gone all last week (when ADR's first opened for us) because she was on the Disney Fantasy (so jealous! haha), so we have to run everything by her still too.

Here's what we have booked:

Saturday: Wolfgang Puck
Sunday: Be Our Guest (8:00 pm reservation, but we got it so I'm happy! )
Monday: Sci-Fi Diner and Fifties Prime Time Cafe
Tuesday: The Garden Grill and Chefs de France
Wednesday: Sanaa

I guess I should mention that we're on the dining plan. It just seemed like the easiest option rather than trying to all pay separately. We double booked some days with plans to cancel one soon. We based our park days off of Extra Magic hours, hopefully that doesn't make the parks more crowded I've never been to the parks this time of year, so we'll see!

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

So, it's been awhile since my last update, mostly because not much more planning has been made for this trip (which is in 129 days according to the countdown on my phone!!! ) However, we did make some more ADRs... yes more, when clearly we need to start getting rid of some xD So that's where we need YOUR help. Maybe you all know more about these restaurants than we do. I've only been to about half of the ones we booked, and hearing some opinions would be really helpful I'd like to cancel the extra ones soon so someone else can have them. Here's what we have...

Saturday:
1900 Park Fare
Wolfgang Puck

Sunday:
Be Our Guest

Monday:
Sci-Fi Diner
Fifties Prime Time Cafe

Tuesday:
The Garden Grill
Chefs de France
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall

Wednesday:
Sanaa

Thursday (breakfast):
Chef Mickey's

So the goal is to only have one table service meal per day, since we're on the dining plan. And if we do the character breakfast the day we leave, we'll have to pay for it (or pay for another restaurant) since we don't have enough credits. So what do you think we should pick?!?

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

So two exciting updates today!

First, our vacation just got 15% cheaper! I called today and we were able to apply the new summer promotion to our reservation with no issues at all! I was very happy And the cast member noted that we were celebrating high school graduation on our reservation, so we'll see what fun things that may bring us

Second, the Jonas Brothers just happen to be coming to Tampa the day we arrive! Katy's mom is willing to drive us (in fact she seems just as excited about going as we are xD) so we're going to get lawn seats! We're all big fans and haven't seen them since 2010, so this is going to be a great way to start our vacation if it works out

 

[happybelle]

Joining in!

 

[MOpGrad2013]

I'm sure you and your friends are in a whirlwind as you finish up the school year. My sons take their SENIOR finals next week and then all that is left is the rehearsal and commencement ceremony. We ordered and received their Grad Ears. Had a small panic on that, since the disneyStore was sold out, but they got them back in. I found out that if they are out, call WDW merchandising.

We will be in WDW the week before your vacation. It took a lot of work and we had to compromise to make it work, but it will all be worth.

Congratulations to you! Hugs to your parents!

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Joining in!

Welcome!

I'm sure you and your friends are in a whirlwind as you finish up the school year. My sons take their SENIOR finals next week and then all that is left is the rehearsal and commencement ceremony. We ordered and received their Grad Ears. Had a small panic on that, since the disneyStore was sold out, but they got them back in. I found out that if they are out, call WDW merchandising.

We will be in WDW the week before your vacation. It took a lot of work and we had to compromise to make it work, but it will all be worth.

Congratulations to you! Hugs to your parents!

School's been a bit crazy recently with AP tests, but now we're just riding out the last month and a half until graduation. This is where all the fun senior stuff starts Thank you, congrats to you and your son too! I'm sure your trip will be amazing!

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

So we've FINALLY decided on our ADRs! I'm very happy with our choices. Here's what were doing

Saturday: McDonalds.
Why? BECAUSE WE'RE OFFICIALLY SEEING THE JONAS BROTHERS! So we're just going to stop for food on the way haha. I'm so excited because it will have been almost 3 years since their last tour (and the last time I saw them) when we go. I'm stoked!

Sunday: Be Our Guest!!!
I'm still kind of shocked that we got this. I'm going to WDW with my family too and we couldn't get an ADR here in November, so I'm glad I'll still get to go! Just sad that my family can't

Monday: 50's Prime Time Cafe!
I'll be honest, I was leaning towards Sci-Fi for our HS day just because my past two visits to HS, we ate here, but I think it will be a fun experience eating here with my friends instead of my family!

Tuesday: Akershus!
I love saying that name haha. I've never been here before, so new food plus princesses is going to be amazing!

Wednesday: Sanaa!
We opted to eat outside of AK since they don't have the greatest TS options, but I figured we'd keep the park theme and eat at AKL! And I'm in love with this restaurant, so hopefully my friends will love it like I do!

Thursday: Chef Mickey's!
The benefit of not using our TS credit Saturday is that we get a character breakfast the day we leave! This is a classic, I know we're going to have a blast here

So now that we have our ADR's sorted out, we're running out of things to plan. Our new way to hold over our excitement is Disney Movie Nights! We made a list of 47 Disney movies we want to watch before we leave, so it's going to be an interesting next few months trying to get through all of them!

And I've been able to express my Disney excitement at work too! I work at a self-serve yogurt place and whenever me, my best guy-friend, and one of our managers all have the same shift it becomes Disney night at the store for the last hour or so we're open. Then when we close and have to clean we BLAST THE MUSIC. It's so fun and makes work like a party. We all sing obnoxiously loud and the guys dance and it's so fun, I love it. It gets me pumped for August haha I'm so glad I have Disney friends to surround myself with!

 

[crocko's wife]

Your ADR's all sound great! We are going to be there in November as well! Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Your ADR's all sound great! We are going to be there in November as well! Looking forward to hearing more about your plans

Thanks! I'll look out for you in November

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

This update will be coming to you in three parts:

1. WE'RE OFFICIALLY PAID OFF!! To my mom anyway... she wants us to wait until our last day to pay to actually pay online so it falls on a later credit card bill but nonetheless... WE'RE PAID OFF!

2. I mentioned before we've started a list of movies we need to watch before the trip, and so far we've knocked off three...

Hercules
Tarzan
The Little Mermaid

We've had two movie nights so far with me, Alison, Lindsay, and our friend Jared. I'm hoping we get through at least ten before we go! This marathon has also made me realize how much I want to meet Hercules and Meg but they don't seem to make appearances in the park much

3. Senior Prom was last weekend! I wouldn't normally mention this, but my look was somewhat Belle inspired so I thought I would show you!

I got the gold dress and then I decided I wanted Belle-like hair. So I used this tutorial and I have to say, I'm quite proud of myself for pulling it off The only thing I didn't do was the bump in the back with the ribbon around it.

Unfortunately, Beast couldn't make it, so this princess had to go to prom by herself. All was well though

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!

On June 25th, all four of us received our diplomas and officially ended our high school careers. I'll be honest, I wasn't as sad about it as I thought it would be. I'm definitely going to miss some parts of high school but for the most part I'm just ready to get to college. Not without some summer vacations first though

Here's me, Alison, Lindsay, and our friend Teresa right after the ceremony. (Katy goes to a different school if you were wondering.)

In other news, we got our luggage tags in the mail today! It actually made my morning. Getting mail from Disney is always fun. I had been reading trip reports for a few hours when I woke up, so I was in a Disney mood anyway, and the timing was perfect! I ended up driving to everyone's houses to drop their tags off and spread the magic.

Here's the tag we get with the Magic Your Way package. They're so cute, I love them!

I didn't want to post the Magical Express tags just because they have our full names on them.

Also, I checked in online today. I requested the Toy Story section in a room close to transportation, but we didn't pay for a preferred room, so we'll see what happens!

Nothing much left to do now other than wait

 

[Orreed]

Joining in! Your ADR's all look greatMy friends and I want to take a senior roadtrip to Disneyland so I'm looking foward to reading this.

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Joining in! Your ADR's all look greatMy friends and I want to take a senior roadtrip to Disneyland so I'm looking foward to reading this.

Welcome!

Thank you! Even just planning a Disney trip with my friends is a blast, you're going to have so much fun

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

THERE ARE 5 DAYS LEFT, I REPEAT, 5 DAYS!!

I am so excited, this is going to be the longest 5 days of my life! We pretty much have everything planned now. Katy's mom is getting us the PhotoPass CD, possibly PhotoPass+ though I have to double check that. Alison, Lindsay, and I arrive in Orlando in the morning, then later we're meeting Katy and her mom in Downtown Disney so we can go to Disney Quest. Then we'll go back to the resort, see our room, and it's Jonas time! Were doing one park per day, which you can see with our ADR's, and our last day we'll just do whatever and see what happens

On a side note, yesterday I got back from my trip to Europe with my family so I thought I would do a mini trip report of that!

We flew overnight and arrived in Barcelona where we stayed for two nights. Here's a picture I got inside the Sagrada Familia. This church has been almost 100 years in the making, and they still aren't finished. It's absolutely gorgeous though.

Then we boarded the Liberty of the Seas, which would be taking us all over the Mediterranean! Disney was our first choice, however 7-nights were not offered in July. We had a 12-night booked for awhile but we decided it was too expensive and too long. This was our 2nd family cruise with Royal Caribbean. The ship was beautiful and we enjoyed our time on it, though we did find ourselves constantly pointing out things Disney did a bit better hehe

The next day we docked in Toulon, France. We took an excursion to Cassis that day. Here's a shot I was able to get of the town from the mountains.

The next day was Villefranche, so we headed to Nice on our own and spent the day exploring the town. We found this park on a cliff that had gorgeous views.

Next was La Spezia, Italy! We went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Here's my failed attempt of holding it up

Then, the port I was waiting for the entire trip, Civitavecchia, the gateway to Rome! Here I am at the Trevi Fountain.

Our last port was in Naples, so we went to Ercolano and Pompeii! Here's a picture I got in Pompeii

Our last day was a sea day. I feel like it's not a cruise trip report without a towel animal, so here's my favorite one.

Europe was a blast, but now I am completely ready for a Disney trip! I'll give you one final update before I leave, and then it's off to the happiest place on earth! (this smilie is the best possible representation of my excitement hahaha)

 

[sue_88]

Wow! You don't have long to wait now!!! Have a great time with your friends.

Thanks for the mini trip report! You went to some very nice places. I am a big Italy fan myself. I assume you threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain so you will go back again someday.

 

[ThisIsBrenn]

Wow! You don't have long to wait now!!! Have a great time with your friends.

Thanks for the mini trip report! You went to some very nice places. I am a big Italy fan myself. I assume you threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain so you will go back again someday.

I know, I'm so excited! Thank you!

And yes, I did throw a coin in. I'm hoping my next visit will be longer than one day. I loved Rome, our one day at port wasn't enough!