The One Where She Turns 60 - A July 2022 Trip Report (Updated Aug 20)

[disney castle days]

Hey everyone! We just got back from WDW a few days ago, so now it's time for a trip report!!!

Let's start with the intros:


I'm Allison, and I will be your guide for this trip report!
I am 19 years old and will be a senior in college in the fall (that is terrifying to say!). I'm majoring in Exercise Science, and am debating whether I want to go into coaching or just jump into Grad School after college. My career goals are to become a Sports Statistician for an NWSL team or to become the youngest NCAA Field Hockey Head Coach. This will be my 13th trip to WDW!!
Favorites:
Park: MK
Ride: Big Thunder
Character: Stitch and Bruni
Hotel: BLT
Park Food: Mickey Waffles




Next up is the birthday girl, my mom! She looks great for 60, doesn't she? She is an elementary school teacher, she prefers teaching K or 1st, but last year she was in 3rd and had a great time! This was her 17th trip to WDW!
Favorites:
Park: MK
Ride: IASW
Character: Stitch and Donald
Hotel: Wilderness Lodge (BRV)
Park Food: Artisan Burger from Gasparilla's



Next up is my father, who hates having his picture taken so this very old one will have to do. He was there for most of the trip, but came a day later and left a day early due to his schedule. He is retired but works side jobs here and there. He is not the biggest fan of Disney but does love a really good pool. This was his 15th trip to WDW!
Favorites:
Park: MK
Ride: Jungle Cruise
Character: Mickey and Minnie
Hotel: OKW
Park Food: Hot Dogs from Casey's


Last but not least is one of my best friends, Gavin. We went to school together from K-12, and then post-graduation his family moved to FL. We only get to see each other on trips, so it is always super fun seeing him. He's going to be in the first 2 days of this TR. We have yet to take a pic together on a trip, so pic from 2nd grade it is.

What:
This trip is the celebrate my mom's 60th bday! It originally started as a road trip, and then turned into a normal trip with flights.

Where:
VGF - 1 BDR

Welcome to the trip report!! I will be posting Part 1 soon!

Table of Contents

 

[disney castle days]

Table of Contents:​

Introduction

Day 1:​

Part 1: Time to Catch a Flight (And Mears Review!)
Part 2: "I Learned it from YouTube"
Part 3: "Reunited and it Feels so Good"
Part 4: strawberry SHORTCAKE

Day 2:​

Part 1: Well That Didn't Go as Planned

 

[footballmouse]

 

[disney castle days]

Part 1: Time to Catch a Flight! (And Mears Review!)

This day started EARLY! We have gotten into the habit of booking the first flight out, so we were wide awake by 3 am. I was probably running on 3 hours of sleep at this point, but who cares? IT'S DISNEY DAY!!!!

We were on the road to Newark Airport by 3:45. The airport is about 25mins away when there is no traffic, so it was a nice, quick drive.

We were flying United for the first time since I was probably 6, so we were in a completely different terminal than normal. The security line was weirdly placed, but otherwise, we got through with no problems.

Our flight was set to take off at 7:00 am with 6:10 boarding. By the time we got through security, it was 4:45 so we watched the sunrise and played some Candy Crush.

We boarded around 6:15 and found our seats no problem. Since it was just me and my mom on this flight, we were seated next to some business guy who was actually very nice. The people in the rows behind us were about 10 ladies going a girls trip, and I think they started their partying early, but they did quiet down eventually.

Everyone was boarded by 6:45, and we seemed ready to taxi. But then the pilot got on the speakerphone.

They had accidentally "put too much gas in the plane" and we were delayed while they evened out the tanks. This was kind of bizarre to me, but it seems to be pretty normal according to the internet? Have any of you had this happen?


You can see the fueling tank in this picture.

The repair did not take long, and we were off the ground by 7:25. The flight was pretty bumpy, but not awful. I listened to a true crime podcast, and my mom slept.

We landed at MCO at 9:37 and were listening to Buddy by 10:02.



The baggage claim kept getting jammed, so getting our suitcases took a little longer than we expected it to.

At 10:30 we got on the Mears "Bus" to GF.

*Mear's Review*
Okay, so I will post a separate review for the Mears to the airport, but we really did not like it going to GF. We were put in one of the vans instead of a bus, which is fine but it was kind of cramped and we were sitting on top of complete strangers. There were 3 other parties on the bus, and none of them really seemed comfortable.

I think the worst part about the van is that you are so close together, that it becomes uncomfortable to talk to the people you are with. My mom and I were texting each other, but the people behind us were close enough to read our messages if they wanted to. Because of this, it also felt so much longer. On the Magical Express, you at least had the video which made it go by a little bit quicker, whereas this is a completely silent van.

The driver did not take the main gate into WDW. I know this is a nit-picky thing, but I think that driving through the gates is what really brings you into the whole "bubble" and I think that it is an important part of the experience. We entered through the side gate near Disney Springs, the one that Disney is removing soon.

2 of the families in our van were staying at Disney Spring Resorts. I do not have a problem with them offering the service to the off-site hotels, honestly, it is a great marketing strategy for them. However, I don't think pairing Disney Spring Hotels with the Magic Kingdom hotels (the other family was going to BLT) is the best idea, given the distance? I feel like the DS Hotels should be paired with OKW, SS, or POR/POFQ since they are in the same general area. And then GF, Poly, BLT/Contemp, WL, and Shades of Green should be together.

We were the last stop, and our time totaled over an hour. The driver was okay, he was nice although he did stop in the middle of the road to see the boat cross over the road, which held up traffic a bit.

Given this part of the experience, we are probably going to try a different service next time. I would possibly use them again, but they are not going to be my first choice.


We made it to GF and it was time to go to MK!

 

[rdkeim]

 

[cheshiregoofy22]

Similar experience in March with Mears headed to GF...my plane landed an hour before my friends and we both used Mears. My bus stopped at multiple Disney Springs hotels, she got lucky and headed directly to GF - she beat me there by 10 minutes! Thankfully we both had busses, I would not like that squishy squishy van experience! Enjoying your report!

 

[Woth2982]

Joining in. Anything with a Friends headline gets my attention!

Glad to read your Mears review. My friend and I are going next month for the Wish then Epcot. Staying at BC. We booked a private car to take us from the port to hotel, but were planning on Mears on the way home. May look into something else, although for this trip it may be best since we have two different flight times home.

 

[nascargirl]

Joining in. Love your report so far.

 

[disney castle days]

Similar experience in March with Mears headed to GF...my plane landed an hour before my friends and we both used Mears. My bus stopped at multiple Disney Springs hotels, she got lucky and headed directly to GF - she beat me there by 10 minutes! Thankfully we both had busses, I would not like that squishy squishy van experience! Enjoying your report!

Thank you! The van was definitely an... experience lol. The time it took on Mears was insane with all the stops, my dad picked up a rental and drove to the hotel the next day and it took far less time.

Joining in. Anything with a Friends headline gets my attention!

Glad to read your Mears review. My friend and I are going next month for the Wish then Epcot. Staying at BC. We booked a private car to take us from the port to hotel, but were planning on Mears on the way home. May look into something else, although for this trip it may be best since we have two different flight times home.

Thank you for joining!! Mears was not as bad for the ride to the airport, although if you like having more time in the airport, I have found that the timing tends to cut it a little close.

Joining in. Love your report so far.

Thank you!!

 

[disney castle days]

Day 1 Part 2: "I learned it from Youtube"

Thank you all for joining in! I left off with us getting to GF.



We were immediately greeted at the door by a bellhop, who offered to take our backpacks. Now if you saw what I was wearing in the first picture, I was in a long sleeve spirit jersey and it was about 96 degrees out so I needed to change.

Without thinking about this, we handed out suitcases over to the bellhop and headed into the hotel. I had packed a different shirt in my carry-on, so I went to find a bathroom to change. It was then that I realized I needed sunscreen, deodorant, and a few other things still, so we went back to hunt down the suitcases.

We eventually got our stuff and figured everything out with changing, and headed up to the monorail around 11:45.


We got through security and the checkpoint was all fine.

We went to walk down Main Street, but it was all roped off because it was time for the Festival of Fantasy!

I am sort of sick of FoF at this point, I think I have just seen it way too many times. I remember how magical Maleficent was when I was younger so I try to think about that whenever I hear it, but the music just gets on my last nerve after like 7 loops.

That being said, we did stop and watch it while mobile ordering food in Liberty Square.



Andddd it's already stuck in my head again

We mobile ordered lunch from Columbia Harbor House. The last time we went here was during a Villians After Hours when those were still happening, so it had been a minute.



(idk how to rotate on here)

I got the chicken tenders with ice water and my mom got a lobster roll and a lemonade slushy.

It was super packed in there, so I decided to go sit upstairs which I had learned from watching way too many YouTube videos. There were maybe 5 other parties upstairs. We sat next to a window, with a good view of Liberty Square Market.

The chicken tenders and fries were nothing to write home about, but they were standard Disney chicken fingers. My mom really enjoyed the lobster roll, although she felt it was a little heavy. The slushy was super good and refreshing, although it was expensive in my opinion.

At some point during this around 12:15, we got our room assignment! We have been lucking out with getting our rooms pretty early when we have early flights. We requested a high floor, and we got the 6th floor!!!

At this point, I got a text from Gavin that he had just parked at the TTC, so my mom decided to go back to the room while I met up with him.

I walked her to Casey's Corner, where I had planned to meet him and she left to go back.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/t...a-july-2022-trip-report.3890453/post-64185306
Next post: Back with my bestie!!!!

 

[Wayland10]

I’m following along!

 

[bamaslp]

Great start! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[disney castle days]

Day 1 Part 3: "Reunited and it Feels so Good"

*no pics for this post! I never take pics with Gavin lol*

After a minute or so of waiting, I saw Gavin walking right up the middle of Main Street U.S.A.!

I am always so excited to see Gavin, like I said in the introductions, we have known each other since we were 5 so we have a really good bond and try to hangout as much as possible. We decided to go left into Adventureland today instead of right like we normally do.

Our first ride of the day was PoTC.

Fun Fact: I am deathly afraid of this ride. If you have read my last trip report, you would know I have a billion and a half fears and this ride is one of them. When I was maybe 10 or 12, I went on this ride with my brother and mom and was quite literally ejected out of the boat during the drop. I mean I got serious airtime, and my mom literally grabbed me to pull me back in the boat. At this point, I am probably 40 pounds heavier (I have no clue how much a 10 year old weighs), so I was hoping that the extra weight would keep me from flying this time.

PoTC was posted at a 60 minute wait. I will say, talking to someone you haven't seen in forever does help the wait times feel like they go much faster. We waited about 40 minutes in total.

I don't know if they got rid of the ride photo, but we didn't get one back which was slightly disappointing. Oh and

I DIDN'T GET EJECTED!

So, I guess I am no longer afraid of this ride. Otherwise the ride was good, the air conditioning was a nice break from the heat.

Next we headed to my favorite ride, THE WILDEST RIDE IN THE WILDERNESS!!!

It was posted at 75 minute wait, and I had a field hokey meeting at 4 so we decided to make this our last ride since it is my favorite.

Well, I don't know what happened but somehow we skipped like 95% of the queue. We both looked at each other are were like, "did we accidently go through the lightning lane" because we bypassed so many people which was so weird. We finally caught up to a line, and waited about 20 minutes. I'm still not really sure what happened, but hey I'm not complaining about cutting the wait time down by 75%.

We got the last row which was so much fun. We had a vlogger in the row in front of us which was *slightly* annoying. As someone who did have a YouTube channel for over a year, I have always believed that the number 1 rule of vlogging is to not make anyone else's experienced ruined by your actions. They were not terribly disruptive, but they did have a giant camera so like I said, it was slightly annoying.


After our trip on the wildest ride, we went to go find some ice water because it was HOT. We stopped at a stand in between Frontierland and Liberty Square and got 2 ice waters.

We actually had about an hour until I needed to leave, so we decided to head to Haunted Mansion. Gavin is a superfan of HM, so he loves pointing out all the different fun facts and things he knows in the ride.

The listed wait was 40 minutes, and we waited 40 minutes. It was super hot in the line. It is mostly shaded, but it did not help with the humidity.

The family in front of us in line had a child around 6-7 years old who kept sitting down in the line, which was whatever except she wouldn't move with the family. At one point me and Gavin were a solid 10 feet behind the family in front of us because the child was just sitting there, and we did not want to move up and separate her from her family. I will be complaining a lot in this trip reports of parents doing a terrible job, and this was not the worst whatsoever, but it was just annoying and holding up the line.

Anyways, we got in the stretching room and finally picked the right area, because we were right next to the door. We got into our doom buggy and of course we both volunteered to be the 1,000th haunt.

After our tour through the Haunted Mansion, it was 3:20 and I needed to head out, so we said our goodbyes and I headed to the monorail.

Now at this point, I was in a bit of a time crunch. It was 3:35 and I didn't even know where the hotel room was and my computer was still in my backpack and I didn't know if it was even charged. I texted my mom to plug it in, and asked her for directions to the room.

Well the time crunch because worse as we got held at TTC for 10 minutes. By the time I got off the monorail, I had exactly 8 minutes to get on the Zoom.

Before anyone asks, I probably could have skipped the meeting, but we were told about it with less than 24 hours notice and told it was mandatory, so it meant it was bad news. Also, I am in charge of taking meeting notes and sending it to the players that miss the meeting, so if I am not there no one will send notes.

I got off the monorail and literally sprinted to the hotel. I got to the room with 2 minutes to spare, so I washed my face, brushed my hair, and threw on a shirt to cover the sunburn.

At literally 3:59, I logged into the Zoom.

Next up: strawberry SHORTCAKE

 

[erinch]

Following!

 

[disney castle days]

It's been a little bit since the last update thanks to a broken computer, but here we go!

Day 1 Part 4: strawberry SHORTCAKE

After the meeting concluded I went to go get changed for dinner when we got a knock on the door.

It was Housekeeping doing their room check, but the castmember Teresa has a nice little surprise!

She made a little towel birthday cake! We had a very nice conversation with her about all the different hotels and about how Riveria was the one we wanted to try next.

After Teresa left, we headed to the boat to MK so we could go over to Fort Wilderness!




We had a nice 2 boat rides over to the Fort, although it looked like a storm was brewing.

Once we docked, we checked in on the app.

We decided to go into the gift shop for some air conditioning. This gift shop was super cute! I love all the resort-themed merch they had there.

We decided to walk over to Pioneer Hall and wait there.

Around 6, a cast member started yelling to make sure everyone had gotten their paper ticket. It was not made clear in the app that you need to check in in person as well, and I think this is something that Disney should note on the app. We checked in at the stand and then stood towards the right doors.

All of a sudden the sky turned black, so I looked at my lightning map...




The storm was rolling in, and fast.

It started to downpour and the wind picked up very quickly. I was texting Gavin who was in MK still, and it had started to hail in the parks.

Soon enough, we were protected by the hail by entering Pioneer Hall.

We were in Tier 2 seating, so we were on the side of the stage. I will say this was the emptiest I have ever seen Hoop Dee Doo. The entire balcony was empty and there were empty floor tables as well.




This was the view from our table. The poll did obstruct my view a little bit, but only for one or two parts of the show. The last two times we were really lucky and sat in the front row, so I think we were just used to being spoiled if I am being honest.



The cornbread and the salad were already on the table waiting for us. We absolutely love the cornbread, and we actually make it fairly often at home now. The salad is not my favorite, but my mom enjoyed it. I think I got water and my mom got a root beer. I have no clue what the brown stuff with the spoon in it is.

The cast was pretty similar to the last few times we have gone, and it was so nice to see that they returned post-covid.

We were a little disappointed that they put the chicken out around 10 minutes before they used to because it felt weird eating it during the interactive parts of the show but it also got cold by the time the show paused for you to eat. I think the timing of this needs to be adjusted a little bit.



The chicken was great as always. I did not have any of the ribs or the mac and cheese, but my mom enjoyed both.

They sang happy birthday to my mom which is always fun! We also had no engagements/honeymoons/anniversaries which even the cast was surprised about. I think there were only 3 birthdays. As I said, there were not that many people.


Finally, it was time for the star of the show: STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.

As you can tell I absolutely love the strawberry shortcake. We devoured it. I really want another one now.

Overall, we both had pretty mixed emotions about the show. Something about it just seemed off. I think the timing was just off. Also, there was a child removed from the restaurant for crying which was interesting, and another child who was running around to the point the cast members gave the parents a warning that they would be removed if he could not follow the rules.

After we finished up, we decided to head back to MK for just a walk down Main Street.

We had a wonderful conversation with a local on the boat to MK.

We went into MK and went into the shops to see if there was anything we wanted. We then went to the other side of Main Street.

We then picked up some popcorn and cotton candy and decided to call it a night.

Next up: Well that didn't go as planned

 

[PAsFab5]

Following Along!!!!

 

[disney castle days]

Thanks for joining along! We have officially made it to day 2!

This day, well it just did not go as planned. You'll have to stay tuned to find out why.

I was up bright and EARLY. I naturally woke up at 6:30 am. I normally wake up at 7 so this was fine.

The murphy bed was the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept on, and I have spent the past two years in college dorms. I wound up just sleeping on the chair the rest of the week because it was just terribly hard. There were also no outlets near the couch, so I had to charge my phone in the kitchen which was annoying. Usually the murphy beds have chargers built into the frames, so overall I was very disappointed in the bed.

What I wasn't disappointed in, however, was the view of the sunrise.

The sunrise over Seven Seas Lagoon is always gorgeous and is one of the best ways to wake up.

My mom woke up around 7:30, so I watched TikToks until she woke up. I don't know if we purchased G+ this day. I want to say we didn't.

We had breakfast reservations at Grand Floridan Cafe for 8:45 and then the plan was to go to Epcot for the day.

We made our way over to GF Cafe around 8:30 and were seated by 8:36.

We had a wonderful conversation about Mickey Ears with the one hostess while we waited to be seated.

I started with some water to drink and my mom got a coffee.

I ordered the Mickey Waffle and a side of scrambled eggs and my mom got french toast.




Overall both meals were very good, and so was the service.

While perusing over the menu I saw something that I couldn't resist:



From the website:

50th Anniversary Vintage Minnie’s Brown Betty Profiterole​

Crunchy-topped Cream Puff filled with one of Walt’s favorite flavors of Cinnamon-spiced Apples and Chantilly Cream. Created to resemble Minnie Mouse’s Vintage Hat.

Cream puffs are my absolute weakness in life, I absolutely love a good cream puff. We got this to go and ate it later but it was very good and I am very happy with this purchase.

And of course, it wouldn't be a birthday trip without a celebration!


I got to say, my mom and I both absolutely hate the birthday cupcakes at Disney. I don't know why but they just taste gross to us. But, hey a free cupcake is a free cupcake. This also went back to the room.

We dropped off our treats in the room and started to head to the bus stop.

Now earlier I said we were heading to EPCOT. The issue is, that my mom is afraid of the monorail that goes from TTC to Epcot, which is your only option at GF. We were there in July 2014 (thankfully we decided to drive that day) and ever since she refuses to go on it.

So, we decided, let's take the bus to Disney Springs and then transfer there.

Well, I think some of you know where this is headed.

I don't know if it has always been a thing that DS does not have transportation to the parks, but we learned on this trip that is doesn't.

So it was around 10:30 and we are at DS. My dad's flight was supposed to arrive at 11:30 and he did not have a room key to get into the room, so we had to be back by like 12:30 to let him in. We had to make the choice to either take a bus to another hotel and then to Epcot, and then figure out a route of transportation back, or to just hang in DS for a bit and then go back to the hotel.

We chose to hang out in Disney Springs.

We went into a few shops and looked around. But, ultimately we were making our way over to Everglazed.

I am a huge donut person, and if you are from CT there is a place called Donut Crazy up here that is similar to Everglazed. I love Donut Crazy, so I was hyped for Everglazed.

It was the Flavors of Florida Festival, so of course, we had to try out the Orange Donut and Orangesicle Lemonade.



We both really liked the lemonade. The donut was a little disappointing. It tasted like the orange fruit slice candies, which I do not like.

I also got the Peanut Butter Explosion which was super peanut buttery and dense, and my mom got the Butterscotch Caramel, which she really liked.

We ate a little bit of the donuts and then took the leftovers back on the bus to the GF.

Since my dad was renting a car, we figured once he got there, we would go over to Epcot since our dinner reservation was not until 5 pm.

Well, his flight got delayed, and then deboarded, and then delayed some more. He wound up being delayed over 3 hours and did not get in until 3 pm. He arrived at the hotel at 4:15ish, right when we needed to leave for dinner.

At some point, while waiting we did mobile order lunch because there was not enough food in this update already.

I got the kids chicken fingers and we also got our refillable mugs. I don't remember what my mom got to eat.

Next up: He was scared sh*tless