The good news is, we went to DisneyWorld...

[Joyciemc]

The bad news is... it was a year ago! And I never wrote a trip report. I think I started a pre-trip report, but I definitely never posted it. I have some very good excuses for that, namely that we went on this trip in the middle of buying a house (smack dab between having our offer accepted and closing). We were busy! And now all of a sudden, we've been in the house for almost a year and away from Disney for exactly a year! But we have the glimmering hope of a trip waaaaaaay out on the horizon, so I've been reminiscing more and more on last year. And looking at our pictures. And reading trip reports. And then I thought, 'I've got the pictures, I may as well try to piece them together into a story.' I can't promise it'll all be true because my memory is pretty bad. But you all are the lucky ones that get to read it. If you want to. Or at least look at the pictures. Or not. But I hope you do.

This isn't my first trip- that was the one I took with my then boyfriend after we both graduated from college.
This isn't my first trip report, either- that honor goes to the next trip I took with my then boyfriend and our good friend, Mark. Maybe you read it. Maybe you didn't. Maybe you read it but don't remember reading it.
Then I went on a trip with the same people, but it was now my ex-boyfriend and our good friend Mark.
Then I went on a trip with just my good friend Mark.

The people you don't recognize in that picture would be Mark and yours truly, Joyce.
I'm 27, work with animals and love Disney.



So who the heck did I take THIS trip with?

 

[Joyciemc]

The handsome and multi-talented Ben, of course! He's 28, a chemical engineer, and the most outgoing person I know.

that's him. I think he's pretty swell.

Lucky for me, he likes Disney World. Doesn't LOVE Disney World, but likes it. Nobody's perfect. So when I saw that free dining was being offered for Sept 07, I sent Ben a casual email that stated the amazing low price it would cost us to go for a week and stay at Pop Century and eat for free. I stressed the money part cause Ben likes Disney, but LOVES saving money.

The trip was all set and squared away. We were just busy enjoying our first year living together. In our apartment. When we decided to buy a house. Just like that. 'Let's get a house'. 'Ok, how do we do that?' Well, we started by looking- literally. We drove around and looked. We were staying very close to where are apartment was, so it wasn't hard to just tool around the neighborhood we wanted.
The first house we saw, we liked.

Luckily, it was for sale (you think I'm making a joke here- the truth is, we wanted a house on a specific portion of a specific street. It was pretty lucky that the people living there happened to want to be living somewhere else.) But then we went and looked at more houses.
This is the house we bought:

We actually signed our purchase and sales agreement the day before leaving for Disney!

And that brings us to what we've been waiting for....
Our last year's trip to Disney World. Staring a lot of food, a lot of hair, a mailbox, too much of a good thing, and two crazy kids who had a grand ol' time.

 

[Joyciemc]

We flew JetBlue out of Boston. It was an early flight, but I can not for the life of me remember how we got to the airport. Let's make this a chose-your-own-adventure:
We drove and parked at the airport, choosing to use the down payment for our house to pay for it.

No, that's not right... we took the T.. carrying our bags the 3/4 mile to the T stop and riding the train for an hour was part of the fun!

No, that doesn't sound familiar, either. I think I've narrowed it down to two options: we either took a cab (I have no memory of this happening, but it seems plausible) or my dad drove us. I know he was checking in on our cat and rabbits while we were gone, so this is a distinct possibility.

I know the flight was uneventful. We arrived when we thought we would and took Magical Express to Pop Century. We had a long wait to get on the bus. But all's well that ends well and I have proof that we did end up on our way:

and I was there, too!

This is the first picture of our trip, and the first time I noticed a recurring theme: despite the fact that is was HOT, for some reason my ridiculously long hair (which has since had a haircut, I assure you) is almost always down in these pictures. I am normally a ponytail 24/7 kinda girl because 1)I work at an animal shelter and my hair gets in my way and 2)I get hot and sweaty and hair makes that worse.
I don't know if I was torturing myself on purpose or what.

 

[Nutz4Dsny]

Can't wait to read more

 

[Joyciemc]

We arrived at Pop Century and checked in after a short wait. I'd stayed here a couple of times before, but Ben had never stayed anywhere on property. He was raised by a rule-breaking family who would park at the Poly and take the monorail into the park. They didn't pay for parking, could get in to the park early even though they were off site, and were outlaws in general. He is very proud of this. Rest assured- we did not break any rules that I know of on this trip.

So we checked in and went to our room.

getting just a bit distracted on the way.

I know we went to MGM (it's ok, guys- it was still called that when this trip was happening!) that first day because RnR was scheduled to close for refurb the next day. And Ben is enough of a Disney nerd to still brag to people about my awesomeness in gaining this information and planning around it. It's nice to be appreciated.
But before going to MGM, we must've gone to Epcot. Because I have pictures of us there! And this report is based solely on the story I can come up with around these pictures.

Spaceship Earth was closed while we were there. But you can still SEE it. And pose with it. Or in front of it.

That is how Ben would take off if he was capable of space travel.

I think we actually rode some rides, as well as taking pictures of them. But we were mostly on our way to World Showcase for dinner. We ate at the Rose and Crown before heading to MGM.
That sounded convincing, huh? I think it's true, too. Or at least it could be true...

 

[IATink]

Just found your TR today. I love the pictures! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Joyciemc]

Nutz4Dsny and IATink: Thanks for reading! I'm trying not to make too much of this stuff up- hopefully it comes back to me as a I go!

 

[Joyciemc]

Since my memory got fuzzy on that last part, but I KNOW we were in World Showcase, I'm going to take this chance to show off something I'm proud of. My integrity as a trip report writer won't let me lie, so I do need to confess that these pictures were taken during my trip with Mark. TWO years ago, but also during September.
It was a day very similar to the one Ben and I were enjoying. Nice enough weather, at the beginning of our trip, and super low crowds. So low that I had to do the nice thing and keep some ladies company around World Showcase. I'm a friendly person and I just hate to see someone bored and alone. So I spent a 1/2 hour or so doing my part to help:

this poor lady wanted to chat about books. So we discussed some of our favorite Jane Austen novels (I'm a fan, I think she is too, but she may have been being polite to thank me for my company)

I think she was hot, and that's why she's not wearing many clothes. I didn't get too close so she had some air to help cool off. She wanted to know if Mark (taking the picture) was my prince. He isn't, so I told her so. She looked scandalized. I think she thought she just witnessed Mark and I breaking up. After, Mark got mad at me cause he was embarrassed. Plus, I think he wanted it to be clear to any lonely ladies that he is single.

These girls really do have men on the brain. She ALSO asked if Mark was my prince. I told her I was supposed to say no. She was even more scandalized than the last lady! And Mark was even more mad at me. I just can't win!

I didn't see anyone so desperate for company on this trip, so I don't have any pictures of me keeping anyone company. But I did think I should get credit for my good deeds last time!

 

[DWGal210]

Great start so far! Keep it going, your memory seems good so far!

 

[Joyciemc]

As I'm looking through our pictures from the trip (which was a whole year ago!), I'm noticing a few things: we park hop. a lot. It's amazing how we never seem to stay in one place for a day.
We also change our clothes a lot. It was really hot, so between going back to the pool for a swim and just plain getting sweaty, we don't stay in the same outfit for long.

These things are making it all the more difficult for me to remember what we did on any given day of our trip! I think next time I'll wear little pins with the day of the week so I'll know when a picture was taken. Or I could set the date and time on our camera. Currently it thinks every picture was taken in January of 2006.

But I shall try to press onward:
The second day of our trip was spent at MGM.

This picture was taken by a PhotoPass CM who was also from near Boston. It was the day after Buchholz threw a no-hitter and it was from this nice man that we heard about it!

Strangely- this is the only picture I have MGM from this day!
But I do know that we ate a very early dinner at 50's Prime Time Cafe. We ate the giant amount of food that we were entitled to on the meal plan. Luckily, Ben and I can put away an impressive amount of food.


Once back at Pop Century, we had some time to do this:

Our room was very close to the computer pool and we spent a lot of time there during the hot afternoons. Though I can't promise that this picture was taken at the computer pool. I know we swam at all of the pools Pop Century has to offer, and this is the only picture of us at a pool. That's why I'm using it now.

After we cooled off, I took Ben to one of my favorite places- The Adventurer's Club! I read about it on the Dis way back when I was planning the trip that started it all. I've been hooked ever since! Though my addiction has now ended cold turkey because of the whole Pleasure Island closing thing. Of course I'm sad, but since I like to look on the bright side of things, I'll focus on the positive: I won't be up as late during our next trip AND I won't need to take the reallllllly long bus ride to Downtown Disney as often.

Here we are after enjoying some adventuresome refreshment. It looks like a nice person was kind enough to take our picture. I don't remember this happening at all. But I know where we are because I can see the drink menu!

The other trip we took to AC that week was much more memorable. Through no fault of my own, I ended up on stage. It was pretty nerve-wracking, but fun!

and I got a neat little pin for participating in the show.

Next up, we head to the Magic Kingdom!.... i think....