"They're not going to make it!!!" A Tale of Two Princesses (Update 9/17)

[Disneyfreak616]

Yay an update!

I love Magical Express! Such a great start to the trip!

Yay for getting to Pop! I want to stay there someday.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Yay, you guys have arrived!

I completely agree with your logic regarding POP Century. I love the hotel. Trust me, if my family didn't have DVC, it would be POP for me all the way.

Can't wait to hear about where you went for dinner.

 

[Amerangel89]

Day 2~August 8th: Finding the Magic OUTSIDE the Parks

Before heading to dinner, we got accustomed to our home for the week and spotted some hidden Mickeys!

And after all of this talk about Stacey on the Disney resort tv's, we HAD to take a second to see what it was all about. If this hadn't been WDW, I would've turned the tv off right away...but we were in WDW! How could we not fall in love with Stacey's cheesy/highly annoying antics? She became our daily morning wakeup routine, the extra pep in our step on those mornings that were just SO EARLY.

Anywhoo, we were STARVING by this point, and so we decided to head to the bus stop that would take us to our dinner destination. As soon as we looked out from our hotel door, we saw our bus loading! We jogged across the parking lot and BARELY made it onto the bus. Yes! We had really great luck with the buses pretty much the whole trip, so we are now really big fans of Disney transportation. Some of my favorite memories of the trip took place on (or waiting for) a bus.

Well, I think I've made y'all wait long enough to hear about our dinner plans! Amanda and I formed a pact to take pictures of ALL of our food for the trip with this very trip report in mind. We held fast to that pact with the exception of a few minor snacks, so y'all are in for some mighty find food pictures (if I DO say so myself).

Since we only had 4 days of park tickets (one for each park), we planned on eating at Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD our first night! We had heard that the value for one QS credit was great at WPE, so we were really excited to give it a try. We had no idea how the DDP worked as far as ordering the food and checking out, so we timidly walked up to the counter and informed the cashier we were newbies at this whole thing. He coached us through the order and we LOVED not having to feel guilty for ordering $20ish worth of food each...plus soft drinks. It felt like we got to eat for free over and over again!!! Of course...we paid a pretty penny when booking to experience that sense of freedom over the course of the vacay.

I got the half of a rotisserie chicken, a side of mashed potatoes (with its very own POOL of butter), and the creme brulee...

And Amanda got the barbecue chicken flatbread pizza and cheescake.

We both LOVED our food. Mine was kind of lukewarm temperature (this used to be something I was VERY picky about...when I was a little kid), but it was very delicious. I know that Amanda did her best to finish off that delicious, BIG pizza (she is SO tiny and finishing our food became a common struggle as the trip wore on). She didn't even end up eating any of that cheescake at the restaurant! In all fairness, I only ate 1/2 of my creme brulee...but what I ate WAS yummy. We were unsure whether or not to leave a tip since we "had" a waiter, but all he did was get us one set of refills. He didn't even ever get Amanda her requested set of silverware (I had to go get it myself, lol). But we were very pleased with WPE, overall.

After we stuffed ourselves to the brim, we proceeded to do a number on all of the shops at DTD! First priority was hitting the art shop that Amanda had eyed on the way in. We spent a good deal of time there, and I got a really nice postcard with the princesses on it for the princesses to sign over the course of the trip. I'm going to frame it when I get the chance to go to Michael's (whenever that will be). I thought it would make a great (and inexpensive) souvenir...my very OWN work of art, if you will.

As mentioned in our introduction section, Amanda is IN LOVE with all things Mary Blair, so she was when we found the MB section of the store. She bought this GORGEOUS vase and a precious mug. I didn't think to take pics of all of our merchandise. You'd think after reading all of those great TR's out there that I would've caught onto that slight detail. Oh well, there's always next time (aka, THIS CHRISTMAS!).

We then headed over to World of Disney!!!

What a magical, magical store! We took our time looking at all of the fabulous merchandise, trying to talk ourselves out of every purchase we wanted to make since it was only the first night of our trip...lol. I went ahead and bought a few basic things on my to-buy list. Mainly, a Minnie Mouse head pen, a Mickey Mouse cookie/sandwich cutter, and a cute Minnie plush toy (on sale for $6!).

After WOD, we browsed through some other stores before we decided to call it a night. It should be stated for the record that our "calling it a night" often coincides with Disney's closing hours! Haha!!! Amanda and I might seem pretty harmless at first glance, but we are INTENSE when it comes to getting our money's worth at WDW! You'll see for yourself as this TR progresses, believe me.

So we caught our bus back to Pop with no trouble and purchased our PINK refillable mug for the trip. We made our expected phone calls to let the loved ones back home know we were safe and happy, and went over our Touring Plan for the next day. I was so proud of us for making Rope Drop every SINGLE day we were there...especially since I have been called Sleeping Beauty on more than one occassion. What can I say? I really AM a Disney Princess at heart.

Here's a picture of all the merchandise I bought our first night.

I bet y'all are wondering where we decided to spend our first day in the parks, huh? Well, you'll just have to tune in next time to find out! But I'll tell you this much, it was like discovering a whole new WORLD.

Continued in the Next Post
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[Where'sPiglet?]

Thanks so much for the help and advice! Reading your TR about the marathon actually inspired ME to look into the race in the first place!

I actually am almost ready to book after a couple weeks of research...and I convinced my little sister to run the race with me!!! I'm up to 5 miles at 12.5 minute/mile, and I'm going to attempt 7 miles this weekend! It feels great!

Awww, thanks! I also did the Disneyland Half in September 2010 and earned the Coast to Coast medal. I never did get around to uploading the photos from that one though, and therefore never did a trip report.

That's great! It's really an amazing experience to work towards and accomplish!

I'd like to do the Princess again in 2013, but I'm not so sure if I will.


I love your idea of getting a nice postcard and using it as an autograph canvas. I might have to jot that idea down for my next trip!

I am enjoying your trip report so far! Growing up, we only went to WDW every 4 or 5 years, and we stayed at the deluxe level. When I left home and started paying for it, I've only stayed at moderates or values on discount codes! You can see the downward progression of my resort stays. However, I must say that there IS a correlation between trip frequency and resort class.

 

[Merida]

Subbing!

 

[Enchanted88]

I'm in!!! It's so great to find people my age who love Disney as much as I do!! I just graduated college, too! Awesome TR so far!! It looks like you guys had so much fun!! We are headed to POP next October, so I'm glad to know you enjoyed it!

Your food looked amazing, it made me hungry and it's only 10am! haha
That Minnie Mouse plush is too cute, and I love the pen, too!
Can't wait to read more!

 

[Amerangel89]

Growing up, we only went to WDW every 4 or 5 years, and we stayed at the deluxe level. When I left home and started paying for it, I've only stayed at moderates or values on discount codes! You can see the downward progression of my resort stays. However, I must say that there IS a correlation between trip frequency and resort class.

Very true! I love the looks and theming of the Deluxe resorts, and in a perfect world, I would stay Deluxe 100% of the time. But, for me, I would much rather be able to go to WDW somewhat frequently than to have a couple blow-out trips. I actually enjoy just looking around and exploring the resorts or even eating at a restaurant in the resort. I've stayed off-site far more than I've stayed on-site...and the Disney magic is still there if you want to see it. Goodness knows that I do! My family (who still REALLY enjoy WDW) thinks I'm NUTS! But...whatever makes you happy, right?

 

[Amerangel89]

I'm in!!! It's so great to find people my age who love Disney as much as I do!! I just graduated college, too! Awesome TR so far!! It looks like you guys had so much fun!! We are headed to POP next October, so I'm glad to know you enjoyed it!

I love finding other Disney freaks my age, too!!! I'm in grad school, and everyone here seems to do a doubletake when they see me walking across campus with my Disney Dooney. But most people grow to love me in spite of their inability to "get" the Disney magic. What can I say? It's part of my charm... (I promise I'm not horribly conceited or anything.)

I really liked staying onsite at Pop, so I'm glad to hear you're excited about staying there! It's just so terribly convenient to not have to drive your tired self home to a hotel 30 minutes from WDW property when you're out until park closing. Plus, you get some extra Disney outside of the parks! I'm pretty into pin trading, so I was (somehow) surprised when I realized that the CM's at the resort would be able to trade pins! I found some of my best pins of the trip in the POP gift shop.

Can't wait to get to the good stuff (the actual days in the park) in my TR. This is quite the time-consuming process, but I'm picking up the nuances finally. I'm hoping to set up a consistent update schedule now that I have Amanda's pictures in my posession.