The Best Part of Adulting Is Booking Your Own Disney Vacations - Mother/Daughter PTR

[disneyworldprincess]

Welcome folks!!

My name is Madison, and I'll be your Jungle Cruise stripper- uh... skipper today here on the world famous Jungle Cruise. I could also be your alligator wrestler and swimming instructor if you're not careful. So please be careful.

Wait, this isn't my Jungle Cruise skipper audition?

Well, then let me introduce myself! I'm Madison, the skipper for all intensive purposes on this pre-trip report journey that will lay out all the excitement and details of planning this fourth mother/daughter trip to the happiest place on earth. We will laugh together, cry together, and get to experience the magic together during this journey.

I've been lurking here on the DIS for ages now and figured it was finally time I wrote a trip report, which I have been meaning to do for ages, but school as ultimately been a major factor in why I haven't written one yet. Bear with me please as I try to make this have the least amount of terrible puns I can restrain myself from including while still making this entertaining for you to read. So if you're still around, grab your favorite snack, a drink, a cozy blanket, some pixie dust, and let's get this show on the road with the who, what, why, and when of this adventure.​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Jungle Navigation Center

Introduction

The Jungle Explorers

The Expedition

The Ever Changing Jungle Intenterary

Jungle Cuisine

Jungle Update #1: Missing Person Found

Jungle Update #2: FastPass Day

Jungle Update #3: Should We Do It?

Jungle Update #4: Just Some Moonlight Magic

Jungle Update #5: Momma's Home!

Jungle Update #6: 12 Hours Stand Between Me and Vacation!

Jungle Update #7: Officially On Vacation Time​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Jungle Explorers

Madison

First off, there is me, Madison. I'm a 21 year old corgi loving, Disney obsessed, Bob's Burger watching, Grey's Anatomy binging, planning addict who recently graduated (survived, really) from nursing school and am starting my career as an ER nurse. No two days at work are the same for me and I love not knowing what is about to happen and being able to help those that are having the worst day of their lives. I have been to Disney World more times than I can keep track of and no matter how many times I have been to the happiest place on earth or how old I get, I still love to experience the magic!

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise
Favorite Disney Character: Mr. Fredrickson
Favorite Disney Movie: Zootopia, Ratatouille, UP
Favorite Disney Snack: Pineapple Vanilla Dole Whip Swirl

Mom

This is my partner in crime for this trip and one of the two people who fostered my love for all things Disney, Mom. For our last three trips, we have enjoyed going as a mother/daughter duo and didn't blink an eye at the chance to go for a fourth time together! She has also been to Disney too many times to count. Her and my dad enjoy Disney so much, that in 2007 or 2008 they decided to become Disney Vacation Club members, paving the way for even more magical vacations in the fiture. Mom also lurks on the DIS here and agreed I should write a trip report for our upcoming trip and will probably be reading this also, so hi Mom!

Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride: Splash Mountain, TTA
Favorite Disney Character: Sadness
Favorite Disney Movie: Inside Out, Dumbo
Favorite Disney Snack: Dole Whip Float

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Jungle Expedition

Mom and I recently celebrated my 21st birthday, nursing school graduation, and Spring Break at Disney back in March. Ever since then, we have been missing having a Disney trip to plan. I mean, there really is nothing like planning a Disney trip. So when she and my dad were (somewhat) joking that this year they would actually get Christmas presents for themselves that they didn't have to pay for and Mom mentioned wanting a Disney trip for Christmas, my wheels started turning and the idea for this trip was born. I mean, she spent 21 years taking me to Disney World multiple times a year, so why not repay the favor?

I knew the trip couldn't be a total surprise since Mom would have to book the room, so I had to let her in on my trip idea. After talking to Mom to make sure she actually wanted go and figuring out a Disney trip was in my budget, we booked the hotel two days ago and the planning began! Now, before you think we left my dad out and didn't even ask if he wanted to go, know that we did ask and he chose to sit this trip out and go on a family vacation trip we are planning for December 2018, but more on that later!

So where are staying for this trip you ask? Well, in the two days we have had this trip booked, we have already changed it. I think that's a new record honestly.

Originally, we were planning on staying at Bay Lake Towers. We stayed here for the first time on our very first mother/daughter trip in 2015 as a change from our usual resort of the Boardwalk and fell in love with the hotel! The proximity to the Magic Kingdom is perfect for us as we spend most of our time there and enjoyed it so much that we stayed there for our other two mother/daughter trips. For this trip, we have booked either a lake view or theme park view studio. I honestly can't remember. Terrible, I know.

After booking the original room, we realized Mom and Dad would lose over 100 DVC points. We played around with the idea of going on a family Disney cruise later in September, but it would be impossible for everyone to get that much time off of work if we still wanted to do our December trip. Plus, none of us were too thrilled of being in the middle of the ocean during hurricane season. After outrunning Hermine in September and Matthew in October, I was perfectly okay with this decision as I had my fill of hurricanes for a while.

So we were left with three options:
1. Lose the DVC points
2. Upgrade our studio to a 1 bedroom theme park view
3. Upgrade our studio to a 1 bedroom lake view and add a day

Option one was completely out of the question, so we began waffling option 2 and 3. We are planning to watch the new Magic Kingdom firework show from the park and catching the other nighttime shows since it was something we haven't done in a while, so I didn't really see the need for a theme park view. Plus, who wouldn't want an extra day at Disney?! So, Mom and I decided that today we would upgrade the studio to a 1 bedroom lake view villa and add on an extra day to our trip!

It's offical now! This will be our first time in a one bedroom villa at BLT and we couldn't be more excited!

That then brings us to the when of the expedition.

The original dates of the trip were set for January 28, 2018 to February 2, 2018. We chose these dates because of the (hopefully) low crowds and cooler weather. After going to Disney in early March twice, I question how we ever survived two boiling trips during 4th of July week and countless June trips.

With our decision to add on an extra day, we then were left with the dilemma of when to add the extra day. I don't start my ER nurse residency until August and still have no clue which shift I will be working, so planning days is a little tricky. But, we figured at this point with my ability to self-schedule at work, it was all a 6 and 1, half a dozen of the other sort of situation and settled on the dates of January 28, 2017 to February 3, 2018.

Next up, we will look at the preliminary plans we have set up for park plans, dining plans, and fast pass plans. Even though we can't make ADRs until August 1st and fast passes until November 29th, it's good to have it all planned out, right?
​

 

[suse66]

Sounds like a wonderful start to your adventures! I am looking forward to reading along!

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Sounds like a wonderful start to your adventures! I am looking forward to reading along!

Thanks for reading about our journey so far!

 

[disneyworldprincess]

The Ever Changing
Jungle Expedition Itinerary

Hey guys! I know, it's been a while since I posted last, but you know, life happens. I've been traveling for some pre-employment things for my new job and getting ready to move for work so I've been pretty busy lately. I figured I would take a break from getting things ready for my big move in a few days to update ya'll on some exciting planning Mom and I have done for our trip! This is our favorite part of planning, picking out which parks we are going to, where we want to eat, and what we want to do at the parks for the day as we are both planners and like to have an idea on what will be doing once we are in the World! Shortly after booking our room, we already had been discussing plans since we knew that we would be able to book ADRs on August 1st, the day after the moving company comes with all my furniture.

We included our usual tradition of visiting the Magic Kingdom on our first day and started to lay out the other plans. I have somehow misplaced my paper with our first plans, but I do remember they included trying several new restaurants such as Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic dinner package and Skipper Canteen because of how good it smelled when we were walking by in March.

After looking at the menu and pictures of Skipper Canteen again, we were on the fence about how much we would really enjoy this. Not wanting to waste a table service credit on a meal that we weren't 100% set on enjoying, wanting to visit Wilderness Lodge, and wanting to see Pandora at night, we went back to the drawing board and came up with version 2 of our plan that looked like this:

January 28th
- Drive to Disney
- Check In
- Magic Kingdom
- Lunch at Cosmic Rays
- Dinner at Be Our Guest
- FastPasses: Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin

January 29th
- Animal Kingdom in the morning
- Hollywood Studios in the evening
- Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
Dinner at 50's Primetime Cafe
- FastPasses: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, Indiana Jones
- Star Wars Fireworks

January 30th
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Epcot in the evening
- Breakfast at Sleepy Hollow
- Lunch at La Cantina de San Angel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Illuminations
- FastPasses: Soarin', Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth

January 31st
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Hollywood Studios in the evening
- Breakfast at Gaston's Tavern
- Lunch at Backlot Express
- Dinner at Mama Melrose
- Fantasmic
- FastPasses: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of Caribbean, Peter Pan's Flight

February 1st
- Epcot in the morning
- Animal Kingdom at night
- Breakfast at Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie
- Lunch at Teppan Edo
- Dinner at Flame Tree BBQ
- See Pandora at night
FastPasses: Na'vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur

February 2nd
- Magic Kingdom
- Breakfast at Sleepy Hollow
- Lunch at Be Our Guest
- Dinner at Whispering Canyon
- FastPasses: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain

February 3rd
- Breakfast at Contempo Cafe
- Check Out
- Drive Home

Well, after being on the fence about Mama Melrose due to its less than raving reviews and the mixed reviews on Whispering Canyon, we came up with the third and hopefully final version of our plan. Seeing as park hours haven't been posted for our trip dates, this will most likely not be the final version of our plan. But this currently what we have:

January 28th
- Drive to Disney
- Check In
- Magic Kingdom
- Lunch at Cosmic Rays
- Dinner at Be Our Guest
- FastPasses: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin

January 29th
- Animal Kingdom in the morning
- Hollywood Studios in the evening
- Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
- Dinner at 50's Primetime Cafe
- FastPasses: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, Indiana Jones
- Star Wars Fireworks

January 30th
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Epcot in the evening
- Lunch at La Cantina de San Angel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France
- Illuminations
- FastPasses: Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Living With The Land

January 31st
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Epcot in the evening
- Lunch at Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie
- Dinner at Tutto Italia
- FastPasses: Frozen Ever After, Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth

February 1st
- Epcot in the morning
- Animal Kingdom in the evening
- Lunch at Teppan Edo
- Dinner at Flame Tree BBQ
- See Pandora at night
- FastPasses: Na'vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur

February 2nd
- Magic Kingdom
- Breakfast at Sleepy Hollow
- Lunch at Be Our Guest
- Dinner at 'Ohana
- FastPasses: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain
- Happily Ever After Fireworks

February 3rd
- Breakfast at Contempo Cafe
- Check Out
- Drive Home

If you made it this far in reading, I congratulate you! Hopefully after my move and we make ADRs I will be able to post more regularly to keep everyone updated! Until then, let me know what are some of your favorite places to eat at Disney World?! Teppan Edo is our new restaurant for this trip, so if you have eaten here, let me know how it was!

See ya real soon!​

 

[MouseketeerKelsey]

Your plans so far look great! I look forward to following along!

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Your plans so far look great! I look forward to following along!

Thanks for following along!!!

 

[Newsies]

Following!

You are SO freakin' funny and I'm in love with the Jungle Cruise theme of this PTR.

Your plans look awesome! You have some really great restaurants in there! San Angel and Chefs are honestly so underrated and 'Ohana is my favorite restaurant in Disney World. We're coming up on your 180+10 date, I really hope you get what you want!

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Following!

You are SO freakin' funny and I'm in love with the Jungle Cruise theme of this PTR.

Your plans look awesome! You have some really great restaurants in there! San Angel and Chefs are honestly so underrated and 'Ohana is my favorite restaurant in Disney World. We're coming up on your 180+10 date, I really hope you get what you want!

Thank you for following along!! I never got a chance to do a DCP when I was in school, but I always thought I'd make a great Jungle Cruise skipper.

Chefs is seriously underrated! It always has openings. The chicken is too die for! We are getting very close to our ADR date. My internet in my new apartment is getting hooked up on that day but I will gladly use cell data to get the reservations we want!

 

[Luna_Belle]

Following!

First off, there is me, Madison. I'm a 21 year old corgi loving, Disney obsessed, Bob's Burger watching, Grey's Anatomy binging, planning addict who recently graduated (survived, really) from nursing school and am starting my career as an ER nurse. No two days at work are the same for me and I love not knowing what is about to happen and being able to help those that are having the worst day of their lives. Working in a field that is emotionally, mentally, and physically draining at times, having a happy place to go to is a must. Luckily for me, that happy place is filled with pixie dust, making dreams come true, and Mickey shaped foods. I have been to Disney World more times than I can keep track of and no matter how many times I have been to the happiest place on earth or how old I get, I still love to experience the magic!

Congrats on surviving nursing school! Definitely quite an accomplishment and Disney is the best reward for all your hard work! I'm a neuro nurse so I can definitely relate to the emotional, mental, and physical drain we all go through. Disney has always been and will always be my escape when I'm not working!

With our decision to add on an extra day, we then were left with the dilemma of when to add the extra day. I don't start my ER nurse residency until August and still have no clue which shift I will be working, so planning days is a little tricky. But, we figured at this point with my ability to self-schedule at work, it was all a 6 and 1, half a dozen of the other sort of situation and settled on the dates of January 28, 2017 to February 3, 2018.

I've been down there around this time a couple of times and the weather is perfect in my opinion, not too hot, not too cold. Some days are shorts and a hoodie weather and thats my absolute favorite.

Until then, let me know what are some of your favorite places to eat at Disney World?! Teppan Edo is our new restaurant for this trip, so if you have eaten here, let me know how it was!

We've been to Teppan Edo a bunch of times in the past and have always had a great experience, plus Hibachi food is one of my absolute FAVORITE foods.

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Cuisine

Hey, everyone! What a whirlwind the past few days have been. I somehow managed to get my entire apartment unpacked and set up and organized in a day and a half. If you guys knew how much stuff I had, you'd be as shocked as I am. I'm exhausted, to say the least, but I can finally enjoy browsing the internet, update this PTR more ofen, and relax some! Plus, I have some exciting trip updates since today was ADR day!

Since I was expecting to have AT&T come and install my internet and TV package, I had my alarm set for 8am sharp. In my half awake state after a very long and tiring day of moving, I did a few things in my morning routine and sat in the one spot in my living room that had cell service and browsed on Facebook and Instagram until I realized at 8:15 that I needed to make dining reservations.

If you can't tell how tired I was, I almost forgot to make reservations! Mom and I still hadn't decided at that point who was going to make reservations, but I figured I would just go ahead and make them while I waited for the installation guy to come. If you recall our proposed travel plans from a previous post, our first day at Disney, we were planning to go to Be Our Guest for dinner, which has been a mother/daughter trip custom.
Well, fate had a different plan for us because when I was looking for reservations, there were no Be Our Guest reservations available for the first day. Some frantic texting between Mom and I took place to make some quick changes to our plans, but we were able to figure everything out and the rest of the reservation process for the remaining days of the trip went smoothly.

So what reservations did we get? Below is our newest version of the itinerary! That is, until all of our park hours have been released

January 28th
- Drive to Disney
- Check In
- Magic Kingdom
- Lunch at Be Our Guest (2:25 pm)
- Dinner at 'Ohana (8:35 PM)
- FastPasses: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin

January 29th
- Animal Kingdom in the morning
- Hollywood Studios in the evening
- Breakfast at Yak and Yeti Local Foods Cafe
- Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ
- Dinner at 50's Primetime Cafe (5:30)
- FastPasses: Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, Indiana Jones
- Star Wars Fireworks

January 30th
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Epcot in the evening
- Breakfast at Sleepy Hollow
- Lunch at La Cantina de San Angel
- Dinner at Les Chefs de France (5:00)
- Illuminations
- FastPasses: Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Living With The Land

January 31st
- Magic Kingdom in the morning
- Epcot in the evening
- Breakfast at Gaston's Tavern
- Lunch at Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie
- Dinner at Tutto Italia (5:45)
- FastPasses: Frozen Ever After, Living With The Land, Spaceship Earth

February 1st
- Epcot in the morning
- Animal Kingdom in the evening
- Breakfast at Les Halles Boulangerie and Patisserie
- Lunch at Teppan Edo (12:00)
- Dinner at Flame Tree BBQ
- See Pandora at night
- FastPasses: Na'vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Dinosaur

February 2nd
- Magic Kingdom
- Breakfast at Kona Cafe (8:00)
- Lunch at Cosmic Rays
- Dinner at Be Our Guest (5:15)
- FastPasses: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain
- Happily Ever After Fireworks

February 3rd
- Breakfast at Contempo Cafe
- Check Out
- Drive Home

It was an interesting morning and some plans changed, but everything turned out okay in the end! Being only 179 days out now, I'm beyond excited for this trip!​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Following!



Congrats on surviving nursing school! Definitely quite an accomplishment and Disney is the best reward for all your hard work! I'm a neuro nurse so I can definitely relate to the emotional, mental, and physical drain we all go through. Disney has always been and will always be my escape when I'm not working!



I've been down there around this time a couple of times and the weather is perfect in my opinion, not too hot, not too cold. Some days are shorts and a hoodie weather and thats my absolute favorite.



We've been to Teppan Edo a bunch of times in the past and have always had a great experience, plus Hibachi food is one of my absolute FAVORITE foods.

I'm so glad to have a fellow nurse following along on our journey! Thank you for the info on the weather when you went! When we were at Disney in March, there was a cold spell and it made Disney so much more enjoyable, so I'm glad we may experience the same type of weather! How were the crowds when you went? I've heard good things about Teppan Edo so I'm excited to try it!

 

[Luna_Belle]

I'm so glad to have a fellow nurse following along on our journey! Thank you for the info on the weather when you went! When we were at Disney in March, there was a cold spell and it made Disney so much more enjoyable, so I'm glad we may experience the same type of weather! How were the crowds when you went? I've heard good things about Teppan Edo so I'm excited to try it!

The crowds didn't seem too bad, definitely lighter than the summer. I don't think we had any issue getting on any rides and we didn't spend our whole day waiting in lines like we would typically do in the summer. Since my family's going in August this year, I'm really jealous you'll be able to enjoy much more comfortable weather lol

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Update #1
Missing Person Found

Hey everyone!

I'm sure y'all thought I actually got lost in the jungle with how long it has been! In reality, I lost track of being able to keep up with the PTR while in the throes of an extremely busy ER. Seriously, at this point, I don't know how there can be any more sick people in my area with how many people we have seen lately! This is my first flu season working in the hospital and it had been a rough one. Needless to say, this vacation was a much-needed break for me!

But never fear, I'm back to finish up this PTR before I get onto the actual TR! Plus, what better way to spend your night off between shifts at 3am than sitting under a heated blanket, watch Disney movies, and catch up on your PTR?! So grab a snack, a blanket, your favorite drink, and get ready for the rest of this adventure leading up to Disney day!​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Update #2
Fast Pass Day

On November 29th, I was up bright and early. Today was our 60 days out which meant it was FastPass day! But I wasn't up to make FastPasses. A couple of weeks before, I was checking my work e-mail in the few minutes I had to sit down during the night and saw I had been scheduled for a mandatory education class for the day that began at 7:30 am. Usually, on our trips, I make the FastPass reservations, so I started coming up with ideas on how I could make it work in my head. Originally, I considered getting to the hospital super early and making the FastPasses on my phone while I sat in my car before going into class. After deciding that this probably wouldn't work and would be pushing it to get all of the choices made in time, Mom was in charge of making the FastPasses. I left for work around 6:45 or 6:50 in the morning and called Mom. While I was driving, we talked about the times open for the rides we wanted. Luckily, everything went smoothly and we got everything we wanted by the time I had gotten to the hospital around 7:25! It wasn't the same not being able to actually sit down and look at the times open, but at least we had everything we wanted!

So what did we get as our FastPass selections?! At this point, all of our plans that we had written out for the trip have been thrown away since we have gotten back from the trip and for some of the days, I don't have pictures on my phone of our original plans. So ignore the fact that my memory can't serve me on exact times of everything!

January 28th

Park: Magic Kingdom

Rides: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Buzz

January 29th

Park: Hollywood Studios

Rides: Toy Story Mania, Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones

January 30th

Park: Epcot

Rides: Spaceship Earth (1:15 to 2:15), The Land (2:15 to 3:15), Soarin' (3:20 to 4:20)

January 31st

Park: Magic Kingdom

Rides: Big Thunder (2:30 to 3:30), Peter Pan (3:45 to 4:45), Pirates (4:50 to 5:50)

February 1st

Park: Animal Kingdom

Rides: River Journey (2:00 to 3:00), Dinosaur (3:05 to 4:05), Safaris

February 2nd

Park: Magic Kingdom

Rides: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates
​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Update #3
Should We Do It?​

With FastPasses made, ADRs booked, and the hotel booked, there wasn't much planning for Mom and I to do except change the parks we wanted to go to, which wasn't going to be settled until park hours had officially been posted. At one point, we looked at resort availability to add on an extra day to our trip. No matter how long the trip is, we always someone manage to add a day to our trip because we are so excited to go. This trip was no exception!

When we were searching, we found a deluxe studio at Old Key West for January 26th for only 19 DVC points!

Mom and I talked about booking it. However, since at this point my work schedule for the trip hadn't been posted, we decided not to book the room in case I wouldn't have an extra day to be able to extend the trip once my schedule was posted. At this point, we didn't even know if the trip was going to happen. Around the end of October, I had requested my PTO/days off for the 1/28 to 2/4, so there wasn't much wiggle room in case my schedule didn't work in my favor. Luckily though, my PTO request was approved for my trip dates shortly after requesting the days. But, we still didn't know if we would be able to extend the trip.

Time went on and finally around the middle of November, my work schedule for the time around our trip dates was posted. Needless to say, I was ecstatic! As luck would have it, I was given 1/25 to 2/5 off from work! Our search for room availability became more serious at this point! The studio at OKW wasn't still available at this point and none of the DVC resorts had no studios available. Mom and I were confused by this since we were supposed to be going during low crowd times, but I was determined to find a room to be able to extend our trip. There was availability at some of the moderate resorts for around 25 to 30 points. I asked Mom which resort she would want to stay at and if she wanted to use points for that. She then suggested to seeing if any 1 bedroom villas were available. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that, but I began searching.


Luck was still in our favor because there was availability for a preferred view 1 bedroom at our home resort of Saratoga Springs for only 31 points! Even though it's our home resort, we had only stayed here once and I thought it would be nice to stay there again. Mom and I talked about it and decided that for around the same amount of points at one of the moderate resorts, we should just book the one bedroom villa, even if it did seem silly to have a 1 bedroom for just one night. And with that, our 6-day trip quickly became a 7-day trip!

In the high of getting to be at my happy place for longer, I was game for adding on an 8th day since I had so many days off, but Mom reminded me that when we went for 8 days in March for Spring Break, we were dead. Agreeing that 8 days was a little too much last times, I put that idea to rest and began planning what we were going to do on our 7th day! Following our tradition, we quickly planned on going to Magic Kingdom for our first day. Since we couldn't book FastPasses because we wouldn't be adding on our extra day to our tickets until we got to Disney, we began looking at dining options. Knowing we would get to Disney in the late morning and would be paying OOP for two meals, we contemplated on adding the dining plan for an extra day. We looked at reservations that were open and with no available reservations for restaurants we like in Magic Kingdom, we decided we would like to try La Hacendia de San Angel, so we made the reservation for a late lunch and planned on going to Epcot before heading to Magic Kingdom.

As sac religious as it felt to break our tradition of spending the first day at the Magic Kingdom, we were still excited to go and the countdown to Disney Day was on!
​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Update #4
Just Some Moonlight Magic

Much hadn't changed with our plans since we booked our add-on day at Saratoga Springs. However, one night at work, I was sitting in the break room getting to enjoy a lunch break (which rarely happens ) and checked my phone. I was scrolling through my inbox and saw a message Mom had forwarded me about a confirmation from Disney. Confused, I opened it and read that we were reserved for the January 28th Moonlight Magic DVC member event. I had never heard of it, but I was excited none the less!

In the morning, when I was driving home for work, I called Mom and she filled me in on the details. I was beyond excited at this point! On the second night of our trip, we would be enjoying the Magic Kingdom to DVC members only who RSVP'd to the event. There would be free food, a special fireworks show, rare character meets, and practically no lines! And the best part? It was a free event!

Mom had seen about the event earlier, but thought it was a paid event. However, on the night she reserved our spots, she saw an add for it on Facebook mentioning that it was a free event. She looked the DVC website to see if the event was full and was surprised that spots were still open! Mom said she was going to wait until I got off work to talk to me to see if I was interested in going, but decided to just go ahead and book it. I was 100% okay with it and started watching all the vlogs on YouTube about the event that I could find. Needless to say, Mom and I were beyond excited about the event!​

 

[disneyworldprincess]

Jungle Update #5
Momma's Home!

The day finally came! It was January 22nd. Even though I had gotten off of my third 12-hour shift in a row (my 4th shift that week ), I was beyond excited because I was picking up Mom today! The 30ish minute drive home went by quickly as I talked to Mom on the phone. My plan was to eat a quick breakfast, shower, and take a couple hours long nap before I made the three-hour drive to pick her up. Mom agreed to call me at 11:30 to wake me up. For me, it is hard to wake up from my short naps on my days off after my shifts while I'm transitioning from my night shift schedule to a "day schedule" again and wake up calls are a must so I don't sleep all afternoon. The meme below is definitely me on my days off.

I showered, ate breakfast, and falling asleep was no struggle at all since I had spent the night running around at work being super busy with my patients and a massive wait time in the ER due to everyone coming in with flu symptoms. The week before, I had caught a nasty cold at work. Not surprising at all with how many people have been coming in with it, but I was so glad I got it before I went to Disney and was able to get over it fully!

My alarm went off way too early, but I couldn't complain today! I got up, finished straightening up my apartment, packed a quick bag, grabbed a soda for the road, started my Disney playlist on Spotify, and hit the road a little before 1pm! My parents live about 3 hours north of me, and regardless of having to go through Atlanta, the traffic wasn't horrible and the drive went smoothly. I got home around 4:45pm and the night was pretty uneventful. My dad was working a night shift that night, so Mom and I spent the night packing her suitcase, watching TV with the dogs, and getting everything ready to go on vacation!

The next morning, Dad brought home breakfast after work that we all enjoyed together. We hung around the house a little bit longer before saying our goodbys to Dad and the dogs and loading up our stuff in my car. A little before 10am, we hit the road to head back to my apartment! I had to work a shift the next day, so, unfortunately, we couldn't hang around longer. On the way back, we stopped for gas and some Chick-fil-A. The entire drive we talked about our Disney plans and listened to my Disney playlist. We already getting in the spirit! Luckily Atlanta traffic wasn't terrible again and we got back to my apartment before 2pm!

After unloading the car, we spent the next three hours running around doing the few errands we needed to do. All I had in my fridge was some Dr. Pepper and eggs, so a trip to The Fresh Market and Publix was much needed. We stocked up the fridge and got everything put away before heading to Target to pick up a few things we needed for Disney. What we thought would be a quick trip across the street to Target turned into an hour-long adventure. Needless to say, we got distracted looking at everything and got a few more things than we went in for.

By the time we finally got home, it was after 6pm and we were exhausted. We put everything away, started some laundry, and decided on what we wanted make for dinner. We settled on making some boiled corn on the cob, steamed broccoli, and chicken cordon bleu from The Fresh Market. While Mom made dinner, I showered and unpacked my overnight bag. By the time I was done, dinner was ready and we ate while we watched the new episode of the Heroin Triangle special of Intervention.

Before long, we were both exhausted and ready for bed. Mom showered, we straightened up the kitchen, started some laundry, and headed to bed. Even though I had to work the next night, I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake all night to sleep during the day, so I just headed to bed and enjoyed a good night's sleep.​