Third Time's The Charm At The DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM Fall '19! (COMPLETE - 8/14)
- Thread starter PlutosRHM55
- Start date
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
WE HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED IN ORLANDO!!! Well, we've actually been off the plane for some time. We checked in at our hotel, did a quick run to Target for some day one essentials (I'll probably be doing my usual Wal Mart run with the roomies on Tuesday), had lunch at On The Border and now we are back in our room to nap! We also passed by where my darling dear Vista Way (the complex I'm living in) is and it made me so emo. All the mems are coming back today! *sobs*
I'm keeping all the tabs currently on my phone, but hopefully once I've unpacked and settled into my room, I'll be carrying around one of my notebooks to do that. I prefer handwritten to typing or text, helps me remember better. It will all be typed up in detailed glory for you to enjoy but I thought live updates would be enjoyable enough.
Will probably be headed to Disney Springs tonight for some Dole Whip Froscato and other shenanigans haha
Welcome again to everyone who has already subscribed! We're in for a fun 8 months.
You are leaving TODAY!!
Yes and we are HERE! It's all happening so fast.
Me too!
Hopefully. Don't be a stranger if you see me and say hello!
I'm excited to share it all with y'all!
pattyw
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2008
Following along! My DS did the DCP last year 1/19-7/19 and loved it ! We so enjoyed the frequent trips to Orlando to visit him! He just graduated college and wants to move back down to Orlando to pursue his dreams!!
Can't wait to hear about all of your adventures!
Can't wait to hear about all of your adventures!
the2ndstar2theright
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2017
Joining in for all the fun!! So excited to read about your new adventure! 
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
Following along! My DS did the DCP last year 1/19-7/19 and loved it ! We so enjoyed the frequent trips to Orlando to visit him! He just graduated college and wants to move back down to Orlando to pursue his dreams!!
Can't wait to hear about all of your adventures!
Yay!
How fun that you visited him so much! I hope my family comes visits me a lot to enjoy all the different seasons down here.
Excited to share all my adventures with y'all!Joining in for all the fun!! So excited to read about your new adventure!
Yasss!
So excited to share my adventures!
cindianne320
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2010
Ah- Welcome home! I love WDW and can't wait to hear more about your time in the CP!
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
I just got back to the room after a night at Disney Springs. We walked around a lot, went to the Hangar Bar (my new fave) and a few other places. I'll have a full thing as promised for y'all soon enough. Remember to check out my instagram and twitter @thatdisneykween as well as my snapchat 'goofy_disnerd' for regular updates on my stories and in my feeds. For now, it's time to get some sleep before my 8:45am check-in. Goodnight!
Thank you and
to you! Will keep y'all posted as much as I can and have the full story soon after. 
Lesley Wake
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2017
Following along too!
cinderaimee
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2016
I am following along! So excited to hear all about everything!
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
It's been a LONG but fun day. Just settling down with my roomies after spending all day running around, playing, hanging out with people and relishing in that Disney magic. Already have plans tomorrow to go to Disney Springs, but other than that, who knows? Again, I promise I'm keeping notes and will have all the detailed updates up soon!
Yay!
Excited to tell y'all about it!
missangelalexis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2012
Joining in, Timmy! Can't wait to hear about you DCP live as it happens!
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
Looking forward to following along on your adventures! What an exciting opportunity this will be!
Glad to have you along! It is all very exciting indeed.Hello!
So excited to share all the tea about the DCP!
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
Thank you so much! Omg you have? I'm so glad you decided to pop in then.
I'm so excited to share all my daily adventures 
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
Oh my, almost missed this!!
My life is so chaotic right now, way too old for that.
Sweet Spells!! I seem to recall that being a favorite of yours when you went with the school chorus?? I loved that store, everything was so cute.
I'll be following along.
Omg, so glad you found it! Love a familiar face.
Glad to have you along, as always. I can't believe you remembered that. I almost forgot about me taking those photos with the Villain scenes in the windows way back in 2011. It really is so cute in there!
PlutosRHM55
Currently: No HHN Depression
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2010
It's Been 3 Long Years...
6/2/19: Arrival Day
I'm already struggling to do this. I've taken notes and such, but damn it's taking awhile to do the whole usual "upload photos-format everything-etc" thing together with a live report that I'm doing for 8 MONTHS. But whatever, I agreed to do this so Imma follow through like the good little TR vet I am.
Let us begin. (Apologies in advanced, this is text heavy and I'm really not great about gifs so please bare with me.)
It was a VERY early day today as most Disney trips with me are, even if I don't need to arrive super early I for some reason feel I... have to(?) but whatever. We had a Southwest flight out from MHT (Manchester NH airport) to MCO at 7am and that's around a 30 minute drive from us. I also get majorly anxious about getting to airports with enough time to spare to drop bags off and get through security so we were up at 3:30am for a 7am flight... or at least I was. I had some last minute packing to do alongside usual morning stuff. I also made sure to say goodbye to my mom, my sister (my other sister had been moved to her own house for summer classes so she wasn't there) and my dog. My mom and my sister were kinda quick and sleepily since it was so early. I really got to spend time with my puppy since she's always awake but also... my puppy.
My baby Schuyler.
Click to watch!
*sigh*
Not gonna lie, gonna miss my furbaby princess the mostest.
After all that and moving my luggage down and waiting a bit for my dad, we headed out. Surprisingly, we managed to fit all my luggage and my dad's in the backseat of his truck and didn't have to put anything in his bed. Talk about score!
Airport however was not nearly as smooth. At bag check, my dad forgot that his bag was supposed to go last because one of my bags potentially was overweight and we had a major close call. *deep breath* Then that bag I thought was overweight was 13 POUNDS OVERWEIGHT. It was almost as bad as what happened to me coming home from Disneyland with how overweight one of my bags was and I only had my carry-on and the second suitcase to switch stuff over to. Luckily, we figured it out in a few minutes and then got on with our lives.
You'd think this would've stopped at security but instead I had my first near-detainment with TSA.
Yup, totally serious.
I was obviously a bit out of it because I was tired and didn't sleep much (I waited around to go in the hot tub and wait for my mom the night before) and didn't go to bed until around 11pm. So only 3 or 4 hours of sleep in the end. In my rush of getting things on the conveyor through the scan machine thingy, I LEFT MY EARPHONES IN MY POCKET. Yes, she did that and went through the scanner. Literally thought I was gonna be detained or whatever, just had a quick pat down in the area and the TSA agent assured me I was good so I walked away no detaining heaven bless.
After that, it was pretty smooth. We had time so my dad and I chilled until boarding started at 6:30. We grabbed some Dunks (Dunkin' Donuts for some of you peoples), I got a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a croissant, hashbrowns and a hot chocolate while my dad just got coffee. I actually never ended up eating the BEC because I had weird experiences with Dunks on a flight so I was trying to save it, but just never ended up wanting it later. Oh well. My dad also ended up not being able to drink the coffee until we were loading it was so hot. Very interesting experience with all that. I also grabbed some gum for myself while we waited.
Loading was no issue and our flight was practically empty. Empty enough that the guy across from us UNBUCKLED DURING TAKEOFF AND SLEPT ACROSS A ROW. We were pretty far back because my dad and I like our privacy so the flight attendants could see us if we took a pic, but this was no joke. The guy was passed out like that most of the flight except for landing. He probably would've rolled over during that. Gosh, I wish I had that ability to sleep on flights, but alas I don't.
The flight was mostly uneventful aside from that. There was one child howling during takeoff and through the most hour but like... I've dealt with that on most flights. I ended up paying for wifi again just so I could text people and be on here answering replies. I don't know... I have needs I guess.
Best part of my flight was my landing because I timed what I was listening to on my phone so that Festival of Fantasy got to the finale right as we were landing and then finished as we pulled into our gate. Amazing.
Click to watch!
When we got off, we were hit by THE HEAT. It was 9:46am when we got there and it was HOT. You'd think after two programs I'd be used to it but WHEW, I've never jumped into such a heat so quickly. Luckily, Florida has got that air conditioning down pat and it made life getting to the bag pick-up carousel easy and lovely as pie.
Click to watch!
We did struggle bringing the bags around the airport to the car rental place. I tried carrying my bags on my own but I was hurting so my dad stepped in and carried all through our walk outside in the parking garage to get his car. I didn't write down which company it was he went through but it was the one with the Emerald Club. We first picked a nice spacious car, but it smelled like someone had smoked in it and it just was not gonna be good so we went with a silver jeep which was slightly smaller but worked fine for our needs.
Click to watch!
We debated whether to go to the hotel to try and check in or not. I said we should since sometimes the room will be ready or they will let you do it earlier than normal. My dad argued against but finally settled. As we got closer, I realized our hotel was really close to where Patterson, Chatham, Commons (three of the four CP complexes) and Mickey's Retreat were. It got me very nostalgic and I even started really realizing where I was. It was all coming back to me, so crazy. We however had some issues with my Google Maps because it had us make a u-turn WAY beyond where the Marriott Village is where the Fairfield Inn we were staying at was (btw), even though there was a turn off right to it. It was so odd, but we figured it out and didn't get killed and pulled on in.
They let us check in but told us our room wasn't ready and said they would call us when it was so we decided to go do our Target run.
I wasn't able to pack certain important things for fear of taking up too much space so I wanted to get it with my dad pre-check in and I love the SuperTarget in Orlando so we went there. I'm not gonna bore you with what I got but I will say because I had made a list this time, it went by pretty smoothly. We did end up awkwardly face-timing with my other sister, the one that my parents had moved into a house the day before I left for the DCP, but that didn't last long because of bad reception and bad timing, but that was the only thing that threw us off. Other than that, we ended up getting into line for self-checkout right as the Fairfield Inn called my dad to let us know our room was ready.
WOOHOO!
Self-checkout was self-checkout and it all went fine, but as we left, the scanners at the doors went off when we passed through. We were very confused and stood for a moment thinking maybe we forgot to scan something, but like we've done self-checkout a lot before so I don't think we would. So we stood around for someone to come up to us to get it all situated but no one did so we just... left? Might've stolen something on accident, might've not. We'll never know I guess.
*shrugs*
We originally were planning on going from Target back to the hotel but decided we were HUNGRY so my dad, with his bearings in order, decided to take us to the TGIF that we went to for the first lunch of my first program and the last one. However, we saw there was an On The Border and with our craving for Mexican, we decided to go there. It was fairly empty so we were seated as soon as we walked in.
Our waiter's name was Michael and he was E FFICI ENT. I've never seen someone move so fast and take so many orders without writing a thing down. Like WOW, great service. Props to Michael.
For drinks, I got a strawberry lemonade and my dad got a seltzer I believe. No pics of that.
We started off with our appetizers which I believe was a sampler plate that had Quesadillas, Nachos and something else I can't remember but was super good. The Quesadillas were the winner of that dish. We found the nachos to be the loser I guess one would say. They just weren't great. Also, we didn't like their guac... it was way too bland and watery. Again, no pics even though I SWORE I took some but apparently not.
Not long after getting through that, we got our entrees. I got the Grilled Caribbean Mango Fish.
This took me a moment to warm up to. I ate just a lonely piece of the whitefish and while I liked the smokiness it was pretty bland. Then I finally got into the glaze they had on it and the mangos and the grilled vegetables and mmmm it was GOOD. Very unique flavors but oh so nice. Really hit the spot on that day.
I can't remember what my dad got but it was something to do with brisket. He really liked it. I had a bite and thought it was fine. I'm not too too big on brisket so I could take it or leave it I was loving mine. I also really liked the chips with salsa they gave us. Best salsa of any Mexican restaurant I've been to.
I'm sorry I'm so scatterbrained with these updates... these notes only do half the works lol
We were offered dessert and while we looked at a menu we held off. I rarely get dessert anyways, it's just too much for me and my dad is the same way usually. We paid and headed back to the Fairfield Inn.
We passed by Vista on the way back and I had to get a pic.
(See the transdev bus? You know... the busses that exploded not too long ago lol)
At the Fairfield Inn, we stopped in the lobby to get our room keys and actually had a nice conversation with the guy at the front desk. We talked to him about the DCP and found out he was a former CP. I told him I was alum too but just kept on coming back and probably gonna stick around full time this time (hopefully). He was very nice and we saw him a lot throughout our visit. He gave us info about where things were around the village. Speaking of which, just to give you an idea of this "Marriott Village", it's an area of Orlando that is comprised of three hotels gated in and as a guest there you have access to amenities at all three so he gave us the lowdown about our complimentary breakfast but also a Starbucks at one of the other hotels. It was pretty cool. Definitely nicer than where we stayed last time but we would miss the vicinity to Disney Springs we had on my last program drop off. More on that later...
We were directed to the side of the Fairfield to get to our room. We were on the second floor, our room number being 2293 I believe. Normally I would've only brought my carry-on backpack, my pillow and toiletries bag, but we had to re-transfer my stuff out of my dad's suitcase so my large suitcase came in too so that was fun. Thank goodness for elevators.
I'm awful at room pics but I did my best. You can see how it looked after I laid in it a moment as well as the view from our window.
Never ended up using that pool or any of the others. Kind of the deal with a one night stay but YAY FOR VISTA POOLS AND OTHER COMPLEXES POOLS!
After re-transferring these, my dad and I just passed out. It was such a crazy morning we needed it. We did plan on Springs in the evening, but a nap was necessary right now. OH SO necessary and inevitable.
We only napped for like three hours and once we woke up we were ready to go. However, my dad got an email saying his connecting flight to Baltimore was cancelled for the next day. He tried to re-schedule but forgot his Southwest password so he called Southwest Customer Service and ended up waiting on the line for A HALF HOUR, potentially more. It was wild. I was starting to recite their spiels it took so long. Not nearly as fun as being on hold with Disney I can tell ya that much. He finally got ahold and was able to move his flight to way LATER in the day like 8pm which was not what we wanted since I didn't need him around all day, but that was his best bet. Fast forward to when he did go home and the flight ended up getting delayed. Yikes. MCO and Southwest were not in my dad's favor.
After that, we decided we would get ourselves together and Uber to Disney Spring. My dad was kinda over the traveling and we were hoping to partake in adult beverages so UBER IT WAS! We thought there might be a shuttle but all we saw was once that went to TTC and with my Disney knowledge I know that would be a JOURNEY to the Springs and back if we took that. Much quicker to Uber.
Before calling our Uber, we played around with some cute TSL advertisements.
Like how can you resist that?
After, my dad ordered the Uber and we went outside in THE HEAT to wait for it.
Our driver's name was Ronald and he arrived in no time, however we were quick to note he knew NO English and if you know ANYTHING about Disney Springs and ride-sharing services... it can be a bit complicated if you've never been especially for drop-off. I do know a little Spanish but I was way too rusty and it was a lot of vocab I wasn't familiar with so as much as he did get us there, dropping us off was a nightmare. We did figure it out and we were dropped off in the Grapefruit Garage, but WHEW stressful. Thank goodness one of my roommates is bilingual (again) so I can maybe brush up on my Spanish un poquito.
However, in the midst of our panic, I got a pic of where Casting was.
I'd be seeing plenty of that the next day haha
Anyways, we made it to Springs!
We mostly wandered at first. I brought my dad around to some of my favorite spots, talked about the Christmas Tree Trail, WoD renovations and changes, the volcano at Rainforest Cafe, all that good stuff. I made my dad stop on the bridge near Rainforest for some pics.
My hair was not taking kindly to this humidity.
Thus we continued along. We ended up stopping for a moment at the amphitheater near Boathouse where a guy was performing. He actually had the guy who dresses in the bedazzled short shorts and top alongside him. I told my dad how he's been a staple at Springs forever and everyone knows him. Just a total tidbit extravaganza.
However, we were in the mood for a little refreshment so we went into Hangar Bar, which I had been DYING to try.
We ended up sitting on the outside which was fine even with the heat. It was a really nice spot overlooking the water. I never wrote down our waitresses name but she was super sweet. She was very in theme with everything, which was an abandoned Hangar or something that was turned into a bar. I don't know but it had a really cool feel to it, like a Pleasure Island type gig. I also was excited to have my first alcoholic drink at WDW since I was 20 on my last program and now I'm 23 so TIME TO GET LIT!
We decided, since I was getting a little hungry to get appetizers along with the drinks.
For drinks though, I started off with an Anything Goes (how could my theater kid heart not?).
My dad started off with a Hovito Mojito.
The waitress warned me it was spicy which was no issue for me. I was shocked by how much kick it had but it was still good. My dad however wasn't a big Hovito Mojito fan. He's said he had better so he decided to follow up with a Cool Headed Monkey I believe it was called.
I tried both of his drinks along with topping off my own and the Cool Headed Monkey was easily the best one. Perfect amount of booze and sweetiness and fruityness. I wish I had gotten that.
But as great as it was, let's talk about the real star of the meal: THE HANGAR BAR QUESO!
Credit: Mouse Memos
I literally told people I wanted to marry this and I'm even finding pics of it online to add here because I loved it so much. Honestly best queso I ever had. It was almost like a cheese soup you could have on its own it was so good. I would go back just to eat this and only this. Literally walk in and just get that no drinks. I'm not afraid. I WILL DO IT!
I LOVE HANGAR BAR QUESO WITH MY WHOLE BEING GOSHDARNIT
*ahem*
Anyways...
We also got some sliders.
They were good, but simple. Hangar Bar isn't the place for food per se so having such great queso was such a bonus.
As we were getting ready to leave, I ended up talking with the waitress about my DCP. We mentioned it at the beginning our meal but didn't get to really talk until the end. I told her my location and she actually said she worked at SciFi before so said I was gonna be in a cool place. Really love talking with all these CMs and them being just as excited for me as I was. We paid for the meal and went on our way.
We wandered again further down and ended up stumbling upon this women with her band singing all these pop songs. She was super fun and had great energy so we had to listen. The song she was singing when we got there was Donna Summer's "Last Dance" and she SLAYED it. It was so good. We ended up staying for nearly her whole set we were so impressed. She also song Lady Gaga's "Just Dance", Earth Wind and Fire's "September", "Sweet Dreams" and a few others. She ended up attracting some fun guests out on stage dancing with her. I won't bombard you with too many videos but I'll do one of my favorite little dancers.
Click to watch!
Dude literally showed up to the party after shopping all day and in the midst of waiting for street tacos to show out with this women. He was even dancing and eating with her. He almost actually gave her food. Omg, it was hilarious but so fun. I was even getting into it and caught her attention quite a few times. Definitely someone I'm gonna need to go back and see with friends.
We continued on up the West Side and stopped in at a running place. I pointed out some things, but it was mostly just wandering. My dad seemed to want to go into House of Blues but we were pretty full so we just wandered and wandered.
Wandered.
Eventually, we popped inside the Coke Store after winding our way back from where La Nouba and DisneyQuest once were. I showed my dad all the floors and even managed to get him to buy me a Coca Cola Pride shirt. I'll probably get photos in it soon and post it for all y'all to see. Stay tuned.
But ya know, what we really had to do was see the Coca Cola Polar Bear.
My dad was definitely getting so into it. I wish we could've bought the actual photo it was so cute with their camera. I look so pale, but I promise I'm getting my usual summer color. I WILL start looking less ghostly in photos haha
At the top of the Coke Store, we also got to look out onto this gorgeous view.
We left the Coke store after that and buying the Pride shirt. We came across this band that was singing some Ed Sheeran.
Click to watch!
I'm not as big into Ed Sheeran as I once was but I gotta admit, his stuff still slaps.
We wandered along a bit more into the Raglan Road and Homecomin' area. My dad wanted to stop at the Planet Hollywood bar but we decided against it after stepping in. I was hoping to go to Homecomin' so I kinda made a point to stop there. However we weren't hungry so we just got more drinks. At first, we were gonna grab a table that you were supposed to be seated at, which was an embarrassing moment, but then figured out how that whole place worked and ordered at the bar and went outside.
I believe my dad got a dirty martini while I got a massive glass of rosé.
Seriously though, look at this thing (Please ignore my hair).
My dad and I ended up sitting in different spots because he wanted a table while I wanted the comfy lounge chair. Weird that he didn't want that but ya know, to each his own. Where we were sitting was near this guy who was playing a lot of covers of pop songs just like all the other performers in Springs that night and he was just as great but not super engaging for this dying crowd. We were pretty tired so weren't getting into it. I was however transfixed upon the feral cat, roaming around. Their name was Chicken and they reminded me a lot of the Disneyland feral cats that I used to see all the time working there.
Click to watch!
While we drank and relaxed, I figured out the Disney Springs ride-share system and where the stops were so we wouldn't deal with the fiasco we dealt with upon drop-off. Once we finished our dranks, we decided it was time to head out.
We did have some issues in calling the Uber due to bad reception and wifi in Springs, but Max showed up in great spirits so it was no problem on our drive home having a conversation and answering his questions. He got to know a bit about us and we got to know a bit about him. He was from Peru, moved to the states when he was 17 and after living in a few different states came to Florida because his wife loved the weather. He has two kids who he very much seemed to care about. He was so friendly and made the ride home so nice. I hope my dad gave him a good review.
He dropped us off right at the entrance to the Fairfield so when we got in, we went to grab some waters since we were pretty parched and I developed a bit of a headache from all the alcohol I had. It really wasn't the weather for the drinking I did. My dad had it charged to the room and we headed off to our room to sleep for the big day tomorrow.
While my excitement was not near the level of my past two programs, I was pretty excited and while my dad passed out immediately I stayed up on here, responding and everything, just as one should. Thinking about my favorite Disney fan support group. Finally, however, I did get myself to sleep. I set an alarm on the clock and on my phone as my dad had did before he fell asleep and off into dream land I went, ready to wake up to a very fun day checking in for a program at the place where dreams come true!
Continue Here
6/2/19: Arrival Day
I'm already struggling to do this. I've taken notes and such, but damn it's taking awhile to do the whole usual "upload photos-format everything-etc" thing together with a live report that I'm doing for 8 MONTHS. But whatever, I agreed to do this so Imma follow through like the good little TR vet I am.
Let us begin. (Apologies in advanced, this is text heavy and I'm really not great about gifs so please bare with me.)
It was a VERY early day today as most Disney trips with me are, even if I don't need to arrive super early I for some reason feel I... have to(?) but whatever. We had a Southwest flight out from MHT (Manchester NH airport) to MCO at 7am and that's around a 30 minute drive from us. I also get majorly anxious about getting to airports with enough time to spare to drop bags off and get through security so we were up at 3:30am for a 7am flight... or at least I was. I had some last minute packing to do alongside usual morning stuff. I also made sure to say goodbye to my mom, my sister (my other sister had been moved to her own house for summer classes so she wasn't there) and my dog. My mom and my sister were kinda quick and sleepily since it was so early. I really got to spend time with my puppy since she's always awake but also... my puppy.
My baby Schuyler.
Click to watch!
*sigh*
Not gonna lie, gonna miss my furbaby princess the mostest.
After all that and moving my luggage down and waiting a bit for my dad, we headed out. Surprisingly, we managed to fit all my luggage and my dad's in the backseat of his truck and didn't have to put anything in his bed. Talk about score!
Airport however was not nearly as smooth. At bag check, my dad forgot that his bag was supposed to go last because one of my bags potentially was overweight and we had a major close call. *deep breath* Then that bag I thought was overweight was 13 POUNDS OVERWEIGHT. It was almost as bad as what happened to me coming home from Disneyland with how overweight one of my bags was and I only had my carry-on and the second suitcase to switch stuff over to. Luckily, we figured it out in a few minutes and then got on with our lives.
You'd think this would've stopped at security but instead I had my first near-detainment with TSA.
Yup, totally serious.
I was obviously a bit out of it because I was tired and didn't sleep much (I waited around to go in the hot tub and wait for my mom the night before) and didn't go to bed until around 11pm. So only 3 or 4 hours of sleep in the end. In my rush of getting things on the conveyor through the scan machine thingy, I LEFT MY EARPHONES IN MY POCKET. Yes, she did that and went through the scanner. Literally thought I was gonna be detained or whatever, just had a quick pat down in the area and the TSA agent assured me I was good so I walked away no detaining heaven bless.
After that, it was pretty smooth. We had time so my dad and I chilled until boarding started at 6:30. We grabbed some Dunks (Dunkin' Donuts for some of you peoples), I got a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a croissant, hashbrowns and a hot chocolate while my dad just got coffee. I actually never ended up eating the BEC because I had weird experiences with Dunks on a flight so I was trying to save it, but just never ended up wanting it later. Oh well. My dad also ended up not being able to drink the coffee until we were loading it was so hot. Very interesting experience with all that. I also grabbed some gum for myself while we waited.
Loading was no issue and our flight was practically empty. Empty enough that the guy across from us UNBUCKLED DURING TAKEOFF AND SLEPT ACROSS A ROW. We were pretty far back because my dad and I like our privacy so the flight attendants could see us if we took a pic, but this was no joke. The guy was passed out like that most of the flight except for landing. He probably would've rolled over during that. Gosh, I wish I had that ability to sleep on flights, but alas I don't.
The flight was mostly uneventful aside from that. There was one child howling during takeoff and through the most hour but like... I've dealt with that on most flights. I ended up paying for wifi again just so I could text people and be on here answering replies. I don't know... I have needs I guess.
Best part of my flight was my landing because I timed what I was listening to on my phone so that Festival of Fantasy got to the finale right as we were landing and then finished as we pulled into our gate. Amazing.
Click to watch!
When we got off, we were hit by THE HEAT. It was 9:46am when we got there and it was HOT. You'd think after two programs I'd be used to it but WHEW, I've never jumped into such a heat so quickly. Luckily, Florida has got that air conditioning down pat and it made life getting to the bag pick-up carousel easy and lovely as pie.
Click to watch!
We did struggle bringing the bags around the airport to the car rental place. I tried carrying my bags on my own but I was hurting so my dad stepped in and carried all through our walk outside in the parking garage to get his car. I didn't write down which company it was he went through but it was the one with the Emerald Club. We first picked a nice spacious car, but it smelled like someone had smoked in it and it just was not gonna be good so we went with a silver jeep which was slightly smaller but worked fine for our needs.
Click to watch!
We debated whether to go to the hotel to try and check in or not. I said we should since sometimes the room will be ready or they will let you do it earlier than normal. My dad argued against but finally settled. As we got closer, I realized our hotel was really close to where Patterson, Chatham, Commons (three of the four CP complexes) and Mickey's Retreat were. It got me very nostalgic and I even started really realizing where I was. It was all coming back to me, so crazy. We however had some issues with my Google Maps because it had us make a u-turn WAY beyond where the Marriott Village is where the Fairfield Inn we were staying at was (btw), even though there was a turn off right to it. It was so odd, but we figured it out and didn't get killed and pulled on in.
They let us check in but told us our room wasn't ready and said they would call us when it was so we decided to go do our Target run.
I wasn't able to pack certain important things for fear of taking up too much space so I wanted to get it with my dad pre-check in and I love the SuperTarget in Orlando so we went there. I'm not gonna bore you with what I got but I will say because I had made a list this time, it went by pretty smoothly. We did end up awkwardly face-timing with my other sister, the one that my parents had moved into a house the day before I left for the DCP, but that didn't last long because of bad reception and bad timing, but that was the only thing that threw us off. Other than that, we ended up getting into line for self-checkout right as the Fairfield Inn called my dad to let us know our room was ready.
WOOHOO!
Self-checkout was self-checkout and it all went fine, but as we left, the scanners at the doors went off when we passed through. We were very confused and stood for a moment thinking maybe we forgot to scan something, but like we've done self-checkout a lot before so I don't think we would. So we stood around for someone to come up to us to get it all situated but no one did so we just... left? Might've stolen something on accident, might've not. We'll never know I guess.
*shrugs*
We originally were planning on going from Target back to the hotel but decided we were HUNGRY so my dad, with his bearings in order, decided to take us to the TGIF that we went to for the first lunch of my first program and the last one. However, we saw there was an On The Border and with our craving for Mexican, we decided to go there. It was fairly empty so we were seated as soon as we walked in.
Our waiter's name was Michael and he was E FFICI ENT. I've never seen someone move so fast and take so many orders without writing a thing down. Like WOW, great service. Props to Michael.
For drinks, I got a strawberry lemonade and my dad got a seltzer I believe. No pics of that.
We started off with our appetizers which I believe was a sampler plate that had Quesadillas, Nachos and something else I can't remember but was super good. The Quesadillas were the winner of that dish. We found the nachos to be the loser I guess one would say. They just weren't great. Also, we didn't like their guac... it was way too bland and watery. Again, no pics even though I SWORE I took some but apparently not.
Not long after getting through that, we got our entrees. I got the Grilled Caribbean Mango Fish.
This took me a moment to warm up to. I ate just a lonely piece of the whitefish and while I liked the smokiness it was pretty bland. Then I finally got into the glaze they had on it and the mangos and the grilled vegetables and mmmm it was GOOD. Very unique flavors but oh so nice. Really hit the spot on that day.
I can't remember what my dad got but it was something to do with brisket. He really liked it. I had a bite and thought it was fine. I'm not too too big on brisket so I could take it or leave it I was loving mine. I also really liked the chips with salsa they gave us. Best salsa of any Mexican restaurant I've been to.
I'm sorry I'm so scatterbrained with these updates... these notes only do half the works lol
We were offered dessert and while we looked at a menu we held off. I rarely get dessert anyways, it's just too much for me and my dad is the same way usually. We paid and headed back to the Fairfield Inn.
We passed by Vista on the way back and I had to get a pic.
(See the transdev bus? You know... the busses that exploded not too long ago lol)
At the Fairfield Inn, we stopped in the lobby to get our room keys and actually had a nice conversation with the guy at the front desk. We talked to him about the DCP and found out he was a former CP. I told him I was alum too but just kept on coming back and probably gonna stick around full time this time (hopefully). He was very nice and we saw him a lot throughout our visit. He gave us info about where things were around the village. Speaking of which, just to give you an idea of this "Marriott Village", it's an area of Orlando that is comprised of three hotels gated in and as a guest there you have access to amenities at all three so he gave us the lowdown about our complimentary breakfast but also a Starbucks at one of the other hotels. It was pretty cool. Definitely nicer than where we stayed last time but we would miss the vicinity to Disney Springs we had on my last program drop off. More on that later...
We were directed to the side of the Fairfield to get to our room. We were on the second floor, our room number being 2293 I believe. Normally I would've only brought my carry-on backpack, my pillow and toiletries bag, but we had to re-transfer my stuff out of my dad's suitcase so my large suitcase came in too so that was fun. Thank goodness for elevators.
I'm awful at room pics but I did my best. You can see how it looked after I laid in it a moment as well as the view from our window.
Never ended up using that pool or any of the others. Kind of the deal with a one night stay but YAY FOR VISTA POOLS AND OTHER COMPLEXES POOLS!
After re-transferring these, my dad and I just passed out. It was such a crazy morning we needed it. We did plan on Springs in the evening, but a nap was necessary right now. OH SO necessary and inevitable.
We only napped for like three hours and once we woke up we were ready to go. However, my dad got an email saying his connecting flight to Baltimore was cancelled for the next day. He tried to re-schedule but forgot his Southwest password so he called Southwest Customer Service and ended up waiting on the line for A HALF HOUR, potentially more. It was wild. I was starting to recite their spiels it took so long. Not nearly as fun as being on hold with Disney I can tell ya that much. He finally got ahold and was able to move his flight to way LATER in the day like 8pm which was not what we wanted since I didn't need him around all day, but that was his best bet. Fast forward to when he did go home and the flight ended up getting delayed. Yikes. MCO and Southwest were not in my dad's favor.
After that, we decided we would get ourselves together and Uber to Disney Spring. My dad was kinda over the traveling and we were hoping to partake in adult beverages so UBER IT WAS! We thought there might be a shuttle but all we saw was once that went to TTC and with my Disney knowledge I know that would be a JOURNEY to the Springs and back if we took that. Much quicker to Uber.
Before calling our Uber, we played around with some cute TSL advertisements.
Like how can you resist that?
After, my dad ordered the Uber and we went outside in THE HEAT to wait for it.
Our driver's name was Ronald and he arrived in no time, however we were quick to note he knew NO English and if you know ANYTHING about Disney Springs and ride-sharing services... it can be a bit complicated if you've never been especially for drop-off. I do know a little Spanish but I was way too rusty and it was a lot of vocab I wasn't familiar with so as much as he did get us there, dropping us off was a nightmare. We did figure it out and we were dropped off in the Grapefruit Garage, but WHEW stressful. Thank goodness one of my roommates is bilingual (again) so I can maybe brush up on my Spanish un poquito.
However, in the midst of our panic, I got a pic of where Casting was.
I'd be seeing plenty of that the next day haha
Anyways, we made it to Springs!
We mostly wandered at first. I brought my dad around to some of my favorite spots, talked about the Christmas Tree Trail, WoD renovations and changes, the volcano at Rainforest Cafe, all that good stuff. I made my dad stop on the bridge near Rainforest for some pics.
My hair was not taking kindly to this humidity.
Thus we continued along. We ended up stopping for a moment at the amphitheater near Boathouse where a guy was performing. He actually had the guy who dresses in the bedazzled short shorts and top alongside him. I told my dad how he's been a staple at Springs forever and everyone knows him. Just a total tidbit extravaganza.
However, we were in the mood for a little refreshment so we went into Hangar Bar, which I had been DYING to try.
We ended up sitting on the outside which was fine even with the heat. It was a really nice spot overlooking the water. I never wrote down our waitresses name but she was super sweet. She was very in theme with everything, which was an abandoned Hangar or something that was turned into a bar. I don't know but it had a really cool feel to it, like a Pleasure Island type gig. I also was excited to have my first alcoholic drink at WDW since I was 20 on my last program and now I'm 23 so TIME TO GET LIT!
We decided, since I was getting a little hungry to get appetizers along with the drinks.
For drinks though, I started off with an Anything Goes (how could my theater kid heart not?).
My dad started off with a Hovito Mojito.
The waitress warned me it was spicy which was no issue for me. I was shocked by how much kick it had but it was still good. My dad however wasn't a big Hovito Mojito fan. He's said he had better so he decided to follow up with a Cool Headed Monkey I believe it was called.
I tried both of his drinks along with topping off my own and the Cool Headed Monkey was easily the best one. Perfect amount of booze and sweetiness and fruityness. I wish I had gotten that.
But as great as it was, let's talk about the real star of the meal: THE HANGAR BAR QUESO!
Credit: Mouse Memos
I literally told people I wanted to marry this and I'm even finding pics of it online to add here because I loved it so much. Honestly best queso I ever had. It was almost like a cheese soup you could have on its own it was so good. I would go back just to eat this and only this. Literally walk in and just get that no drinks. I'm not afraid. I WILL DO IT!
I LOVE HANGAR BAR QUESO WITH MY WHOLE BEING GOSHDARNIT
*ahem*
Anyways...
We also got some sliders.
They were good, but simple. Hangar Bar isn't the place for food per se so having such great queso was such a bonus.
As we were getting ready to leave, I ended up talking with the waitress about my DCP. We mentioned it at the beginning our meal but didn't get to really talk until the end. I told her my location and she actually said she worked at SciFi before so said I was gonna be in a cool place. Really love talking with all these CMs and them being just as excited for me as I was. We paid for the meal and went on our way.
We wandered again further down and ended up stumbling upon this women with her band singing all these pop songs. She was super fun and had great energy so we had to listen. The song she was singing when we got there was Donna Summer's "Last Dance" and she SLAYED it. It was so good. We ended up staying for nearly her whole set we were so impressed. She also song Lady Gaga's "Just Dance", Earth Wind and Fire's "September", "Sweet Dreams" and a few others. She ended up attracting some fun guests out on stage dancing with her. I won't bombard you with too many videos but I'll do one of my favorite little dancers.
Click to watch!
Dude literally showed up to the party after shopping all day and in the midst of waiting for street tacos to show out with this women. He was even dancing and eating with her. He almost actually gave her food. Omg, it was hilarious but so fun. I was even getting into it and caught her attention quite a few times. Definitely someone I'm gonna need to go back and see with friends.
We continued on up the West Side and stopped in at a running place. I pointed out some things, but it was mostly just wandering. My dad seemed to want to go into House of Blues but we were pretty full so we just wandered and wandered.
Wandered.
Eventually, we popped inside the Coke Store after winding our way back from where La Nouba and DisneyQuest once were. I showed my dad all the floors and even managed to get him to buy me a Coca Cola Pride shirt. I'll probably get photos in it soon and post it for all y'all to see. Stay tuned.
But ya know, what we really had to do was see the Coca Cola Polar Bear.
My dad was definitely getting so into it. I wish we could've bought the actual photo it was so cute with their camera. I look so pale, but I promise I'm getting my usual summer color. I WILL start looking less ghostly in photos haha
At the top of the Coke Store, we also got to look out onto this gorgeous view.
We left the Coke store after that and buying the Pride shirt. We came across this band that was singing some Ed Sheeran.
Click to watch!
I'm not as big into Ed Sheeran as I once was but I gotta admit, his stuff still slaps.
We wandered along a bit more into the Raglan Road and Homecomin' area. My dad wanted to stop at the Planet Hollywood bar but we decided against it after stepping in. I was hoping to go to Homecomin' so I kinda made a point to stop there. However we weren't hungry so we just got more drinks. At first, we were gonna grab a table that you were supposed to be seated at, which was an embarrassing moment, but then figured out how that whole place worked and ordered at the bar and went outside.
I believe my dad got a dirty martini while I got a massive glass of rosé.
Seriously though, look at this thing (Please ignore my hair).
My dad and I ended up sitting in different spots because he wanted a table while I wanted the comfy lounge chair. Weird that he didn't want that but ya know, to each his own. Where we were sitting was near this guy who was playing a lot of covers of pop songs just like all the other performers in Springs that night and he was just as great but not super engaging for this dying crowd. We were pretty tired so weren't getting into it. I was however transfixed upon the feral cat, roaming around. Their name was Chicken and they reminded me a lot of the Disneyland feral cats that I used to see all the time working there.
Click to watch!
While we drank and relaxed, I figured out the Disney Springs ride-share system and where the stops were so we wouldn't deal with the fiasco we dealt with upon drop-off. Once we finished our dranks, we decided it was time to head out.
We did have some issues in calling the Uber due to bad reception and wifi in Springs, but Max showed up in great spirits so it was no problem on our drive home having a conversation and answering his questions. He got to know a bit about us and we got to know a bit about him. He was from Peru, moved to the states when he was 17 and after living in a few different states came to Florida because his wife loved the weather. He has two kids who he very much seemed to care about. He was so friendly and made the ride home so nice. I hope my dad gave him a good review.
He dropped us off right at the entrance to the Fairfield so when we got in, we went to grab some waters since we were pretty parched and I developed a bit of a headache from all the alcohol I had. It really wasn't the weather for the drinking I did. My dad had it charged to the room and we headed off to our room to sleep for the big day tomorrow.
While my excitement was not near the level of my past two programs, I was pretty excited and while my dad passed out immediately I stayed up on here, responding and everything, just as one should. Thinking about my favorite Disney fan support group. Finally, however, I did get myself to sleep. I set an alarm on the clock and on my phone as my dad had did before he fell asleep and off into dream land I went, ready to wake up to a very fun day checking in for a program at the place where dreams come true!
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