The End of an Era - Where Dreams Come True at Pop & Kidani **NEW 5/28 FINALE

[jenbear123]

Hey there, folks! Thanks for stopping by, why don't you stay a while? Pull up a chair, get yourself nice and cozy..... it's okay, I'll wait......

Are you ready?

Great!

WELCOME TO THE END OF AN ERA - WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE AT POP & KIDANI​

Before you lies the beginning of the end. Not the end of my Disney trips - no way! It is the end of my sister, aka Bubba, being a cast member. This was my last trip with her where she held this title.
Here's what you can expect for this trip:

Who:

Me - The biggest Disney fan (aside from yourself) you will ever meet. I can't get enough of anything with the Disney name to it. Walt Disney World has become my second home and yet, I still feel like there's tons of stuff I have yet to explore. I'm the one responsible for all the planning and dining arrangements. If it weren't for me, we'd never see/do anything! I'm definitely the brains of this outfit.

Bubba - Current cast member for the next 5 days She has worked a glorious year at Le Cellier, serving all those tables, all you hungry people! If you have dined at Le Cellier within the last year, you just might have had her as a server. She dearly loves working for Disney and doesn't want to come home. Her and I get along like peanut butter and jelly

When:

February 20th-24th, 2010


Where:

3 nights Pop Century
1 night Kidani Village - 1 bedroom Villa


Why:

To get in one last trip before Bubba ended her contract

I will once again be incorporating our dining experiences in this report as well. We were on the Regular Dining plan. Here's where we ate:

Tokyo Dining
Tony's Town Square
Beaches & Cream
Crystal Palace
Le Cellier x2
Yak & Yeti
Boma
Narcoossee's...... or did we? More on this later....


So did the weather shape up to be nice? Or did the skies open up on us? Was I able to pick that perfect pearl? Did I conquer my fears and ride Expedition Everest?

Stick around and you'll find out!

 

[jenbear123]

Table of Contents

Day 1: Once upon a time
Day 1: The Disney High
Day 1: The Masquerade
Day 1: Delightful Dinner in Tokyo
End of Day 1: The Great B&C Disappointment
Day 2: Crystal Palace/Running with the Bulls
Day 2: Make a Wish
Day 2: The Dole Whip Debacle
Day 2: The Pop Century Infiltration
Day 2: On Our Way to MK
End of Day 2: A Rather TERRORfying Experience
Day 3: Toy Story PANDEMONIUM
Day 3: Animation Academy
Day 3: Dinner at Le Cellier
Day 3: Rained out at Epcot
End of Day 3: Illuminations
Day 4: Expedition Kidani
Day 4: THUMPER!!!
Day 4: Yak & Yeti
Day 4: Citricos Dinner
End of Day 4: Quest for Club Level
Life Update
Day 5: The Beginning of the End
End of Day 5: The End of an Era

 

[All7OfUs]

Woohooty!! Here we go!!

Love the women's underwear. I think this is THE ONLY way you could post that, and get away with it. Jordan posts his men's chonies all the time- so fair is fair.

Hmm...Narcoosees. I'll bet you did- as a celebratory (or not) ending to a sweet era. I'd like to say I recognized the restaurant you posted, but can't.

Rain? It's Orlando. Probably.

Any pearl you pay $17 for oughta be more than perfect.

 

[kangaand2roos]

I'm here and I'm in. Welcome back!!

 

[glennbo123]

Yeah! I can't believe that underwear make an appearance in the first post....this is gonna be great!

Thanks for taking us along for the ride Jenbear.

 

[onelilspark]

Checking in and following along!

 

[jenbear123]

Love the women's underwear. I think this is THE ONLY way you could post that, and get away with it. Jordan posts his men's chonies all the time- so fair is fair.

Sounds like this Jordan character is someone I could get along with. There's a back story to that underwear that I will touch on when the time comes.

Hmm...Narcoosees. I'll bet you did- as a celebratory (or not) ending to a sweet era. I'd like to say I recognized the restaurant you posted, but can't.

You'll just have to wait and see about Narcoossee's.... And the picture of me is in Chef Mickey's during our April trip last year.

Rain? It's Orlando. Probably.

DING DING DING! We have a winner!

Any pearl you pay $17 for oughta be more than perfect.

Ditto! Welcome Back Leisa(sp?)

I'm here and I'm in. Welcome back!!

Welcome back to you too!

Yeah! I can't believe that underwear make an appearance in the first post....this is gonna be great!

Thanks for taking us along for the ride Jenbear.

You better believe it! Just you wait until I get to Expedition Everest....

Checking in and following along!

Yay! Glad to have you along again

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm here too!

 

[Krissy04]

Sounds like fun!!! I wish my sister loved Disney half as much as I do...I'd love a sisters trip!

 

[redlight]

I'm in.

Her and I get along like peanut butter and jelly

Or like peas and carrots?

 

[jenbear123]

I'm here too!

Woohoo!

Sounds like fun!!! I wish my sister loved Disney half as much as I do...I'd love a sisters trip!

Hey, I don't think I've seen you around these parts before? It's something special travelling with your sisiter. Mixes things up when you're so used to travelling with your parents.

I'm in.

Or like peas and carrots?

Or fries and ketchup Thanks for joining in!

 

[disneyaddicted]

I'm here too, I can't wait to read about another one of your Disney adventures.

So sad that it's the end of Bubbas Disney CM status, but this won't stop you from visiting Disney will it? Will you still go as often as you did?

I love your Kermit shirt and I would give my eye teeth for those Disney undies. Then I coudl say I was Disney through and through.

 

[Flossbolna]

Just found your TR! I loved your last report and am really looking forward to this!

 

[janloz]

I'm here too. Following along.

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Signing up.

 

[jenbear123]

I'm here too, I can't wait to read about another one of your Disney adventures.

So sad that it's the end of Bubbas Disney CM status, but this won't stop you from visiting Disney will it? Will you still go as often as you did?

Nothing will EVER keep me from visiting Disney! Of course I'm still going to try to go as often as I did. Maybe not 4 times a year, but at least twice a year. Bubba is getting an annual pass so that might tell ya something

I love your Kermit shirt and I would give my eye teeth for those Disney undies. Then I coudl say I was Disney through and through.

I'm glad you came back to follow along. I really need to have my ears boxed for not keeping up with your TR. The Kermit shirt is one of my faves. I wanted the underwear too but since Bubba got them, I didn't want our tighty whities getting mixed up

Just found your TR! I loved your last report and am really looking forward to this!

Glad that I could entice you to return Hope I can live up to expectations

I'm here too. Following along.

I bet you want to know how the swap went. So glad you're here!

Signing up.

A new update is coming soon (today!)

 

[scooby9932]

I'm in, too! Can't wait to hear all about your & Bubba's Disney adventures.

 

[jenbear123]

The story begins at 1:30am. I slept about 4 hours before waking up out of sheer adrenaline knowing I was going back "home" My DBF was taking me to the airport. Since he's a night owl, he was still awake when I got up.
There were a few last minute things to be thrown in my suitcase. Once that was taken care of, we were on the road to the airport by 2am. Right on schedule.

The roads were unusually clear because, you know, everyone is out driving at 2 o'clock in the morning. This got me to the airport impeccably early. With plenty of time to spare, I sat in the car with DBF for a little while (it was much warmer in there than outside!) until it was decided that I had to go. We hugged and kissed I was on my own for the next 8 hours.

Check in went very smoothly but had to wait a good hour until Customs opened Once it was decided that I wasn't an illegal immigrant, it was onward to security. They made me stand on this rubber mat thing which (and I'm guessing here) is to detect bombs in your shoes. I was surprised they didn't make us sit on something to check if we had explosives in our underwear.

When I reached my gate, I sought out a Tim Horton's (purely Canadian) which was at the other end of the terminal. But I just had to get my timmies!
While I was munching away on my warm, crisp toasted sesame seed bagel with cheddar cheese, a lady by the name of Joanne, who I had chit-chatted with earlier when we were waiting for customs, found a seat beside me. She too was a solo traveller. We chattered on about Disney, golf, hockey, olympics, and the weather. It was nice to have something to pass the time. When Joanne went to take one last pit-stop before we boarded, I took the opportunity to snap a photo of the royal carriage that would be taking me to Disney.

The flight was outstanding. The passengers....not so much. The plane was full of babies and young children, most of which seemed to be going to Disney. Not that that was an issue.... until they started misbehaving I was the lucky candidate to have a seat beside this grandmother and her granddaughter. The rest of their travelling family was seated on the other side of the plane, one row back. While waiting for take off, this little girl could NOT sit still. She didn't even want to keep her seatbelt on The girl kept standing up on her chair, calling her mommy and daddy. She was darn cute but after 10 minutes of this, it was starting to get a little tiresome. Finally, after the grandmother had tried politely to get her granddaughter to sit down, she grabbed the little girl and put her seatbelt on. Then the waterworks came Was I ever going to make it to Disney without having a nervous breakdown?

Once the plane left the ground, it was a much better experience. One of the smoothest flights I've been on.

I landed at around 9:20am to the warm sunshine of Orlando. As soon as the seatbelt sign turned off, I was a woman on a mission. What a relief it was to get off that plane. I utilized Magical Express for my one checked bag so I got to skip baggage claim. Out of habit, I almost went down to baggage claim until I had to remind myself otherwise. Oops! I quickly headed in the right direction, going down, down, down until I set my eyes on this:

It was pretty crowded at this time in the morning. The ME people directed me straight through since I already had my booklet but the line was still long to get directed to a bus. I wonder why they do that now? Why do some other people have to stand in line? Did they not receive their booklets in time? Did they not pre-book? This has got me curious....

It wasn't long until I was on a bus, with a very friendly driver, watching the welcome video. Then, I saw it. The archway over the road. The gateway to everything happy and magical. Where every dream you ever dreamt comes true:

WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!

Home at last

At this point, Bubba and I were texting back and forth while she checked in at Pop Century. Apparently, Pop didn't receive ANY of the room requests we had made. First our room was in the 60s. I was a bit disappointed since it'd be much noisier there with the Hippy Dippy Pool. I texted back to have Bubba ask for something else, preferably what we had requested: 50s, lakeview. After a momentary delay, Bubba texted back to say we got 50s, lakeview!

It took about an hour to finally arrive at Pop

Bubba was there to greet me as soon as I stepped off the bus. It was pretty chilly that day. The sun was very deceiving. Definitely pants and jacket/sweater weather. Since Bubba had already checked in, all was left to do was find our fridge. This was my first time trying a fridge swap so I didn't really know where I was going. I had to ask where Luggage Services was since I had never needed to use it before. When we finally found LS, the place was hopping with lots of people. It didn't take long to receive attention from one of the nice CMs. I was nervous since I didn't know if what I was doing was against Disney rules, or if they wouldn't be able to find our fridge. Bubba had little faith in me already about this so if anything went wrong, she'd never trust me again! I just couldn't take that kind of rejection!

After the longest 2 minutes of my life, the CM came out to tell us the box was there and would bring it up to our room. PHEW! Our room was located in Building 2 of the 50s section on the 3rd floor, the furthest building from everything. This didn't bother us since we didn't need to go to Classic Hall much.

LS beat us to our room and had already unpacked the fridge by the time we got there. He was very friendly and helpful. I was so caught up on finding the fridge and making sure it was the right one that I forgot to take a picture of it! I could've sworn I did but oh well. At this point I was starving but instead of going to Everything Pop, Bubba had brought along a Panera sandwich for us to munch on. It was very yummy and satisfied our tummies for the time being. But no Disney food for me.... yet.

Without wasting any more time, we departed for.....

Epcot!

 

[jenbear123]

I'm in, too! Can't wait to hear all about your & Bubba's Disney adventures.

Woohoo! Welcome aboard, matey!

 

[glennbo123]

With plenty of time to spare, I sat in the car with DBF for a little while (it was much warmer in there than outside!) until it was decided that I had to go. We hugged and kissed

Um, might this have something to do with why it was so much warmer in there? Just sayin'.

When I reached my gate, I sought out a Tim Horton's (purely Canadian) which was at the other end of the terminal.

Good stuff! And more reasonable than Starbucks.

I was the lucky candidate to have a seat beside this grandmother and her granddaughter. The rest of their travelling family was seated on the other side of the plane, one row back. While waiting for take off, this little girl could NOT sit still. She didn't even want to keep her seatbelt on The girl kept standing up on her chair, calling her mommy and daddy. She was darn cute but after 10 minutes of this, it was starting to get a little tiresome. Finally, after the grandmother had tried politely to get her granddaughter to sit down, she grabbed the little girl and put her seatbelt on. Then the waterworks came Was I ever going to make it to Disney without having a nervous breakdown?

I don't understand why a little tyke like this was not with her mother. I mean, grandmother's are fine, but when kids get scared they want their mom.

An episode like this helps put-off any thoughts of having kids, doesn't it? They're not usually this bad to be around! Quite the contrary.

I quickly headed in the right direction, going down, down, down until I set my eyes on this:

We had a terrible time finding ME last year. I was a new TR reporter and was too embarrassed to put that little bit of info. in my TR.

Then, I saw it. The archway over the road. The gateway to everything happy and magical. Where every dream you ever dreamt comes true:

You got a good picture. Were you seated that close to the front, or did you elbow your way up the aisle?

I didn't know it at the time, but apparently Bubba had told them what we had requested but the CMs didn't seem keen to help us.... that is until Bubba mentioned I'm a Travel Agent Magically we were able to get what we requested. Fancy that, huh?

You think they might want some good references from you?

I was so caught up on finding the fridge and making sure it was the right one that I forgot to take a picture of it! I could've sworn I did but oh well.

What the... I must know what the fridge looked like! JK.

Nice update. You left us wanting for more.