To where the magic is! A December 2013 trip to the World and Universal.

Taytortots

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
Messages
113
Hey everyone!
So, I tried a TR for my last trip (two Decembers ago), but unfortunately my notes got lost somewhere between the resort and home, and so I didn't get to follow through with the Trip Report, which was a huge upset to me. This year, I'm going to be much more careful! So let's start of with the introductions and then go into the details.

First off we have me!


I'm Taylor. I'm the one who spends months planning for our Disney trips (and loves every stressful minute of it). Of course, i'm the most Disney obsessed of my family. I'm 21, and currently studying Social Work (in September it will be my second year). My favorite park is Magic Kingdom. My favorite ride is either Tower of Terror or Soarin' at Disney, and at Universal (being the Harry Potter nerd I am :worship:) it's The Forbidden Journey. My favorite Disney character will have to be Mulan (closely followed by both Rapunzel and Flynn Rider).

Next is my mom Debby:


She's the level below me of Disney love, and considers the World her happy place. My mom is a nurse and she works incredibly hard, so Disney is really the only rest she gets. Her favorite park is also Magic Kingdom (It's the pixie dust! pixiedust:). Her favorite ride is Rockin' Roller Coaster, and at Universal it's The Simpson Ride. Funny thing is that she doesn't even like the Simpsons ,:rotfl: she just thinks it's so cool that we don't even leave the room. Her favorite character has always been Tinker Bell. But when she was in Peter Pan and had some spunk. She's not so happy about the new Tink.

Next up Eric and Serena


My younger sister, and her boyfriend Eric (it will be his first time!). My sister is currently pregnant (the baby should be coming a couple weeks from now :goodvibes ). So this will also be the first time we're bringing a baby along. Thankfully, Eric doesn't like rides at all, so his daddy will be staying off some of the rides with him. Eric doesn't really have any favorites, this being his first time, but we're hoping to get him on the Disney bandwagon. Serena, of course, has already drunk the kool aid full of pixie dust. Her favorite Park is Hollywood Studios, her favorite ride in the World is Rockin' Roller Coaster, and at Universal is The Mummy. Her favorite character is Belle.

And lastly we have Riley



I apologize for the picture. She really refuses to take a good one because she thinks she's ugly, which is of course ridiculous. Anyway, this is my youngest sister, she's 16. (Yes, I know, she looks the oldest of all of us :confused3 ) She's also the crankiest (see: age). Her favorite theme park is Hollywood Studios. Her favorite ride at Disney is Tower of Terror, and at Universal it's The Mummy. I think it's because the little video at the end (We all thought it was hilarious :rotfl2: ) Her favorite character is Ariel.

Well that's it for the cast (and crew, which is kind of what i'm considering the boys xD)
Next up: The details.
 
On to the important stuff, the details!
I've been pouring over crowd levels and menus and most other things you can think of to try to make the Disney trip amazing for everyone. Most of this is tentative right now and may change for different reasons. I'm hoping I will get everything I want ::yes:: but, of course, things don't always go as planned.

Dates: December 13th to December 22nd
We'll actually be leaving right after Serena and I's last final of first semester, so that will be a busy week, and then a well needed vacation.

We'll be flying in from Detroit, though we actually live across the river in Canada.

Dining:
Some of these restaurants are new for us, others we've been to quite a few times. Again, none of this is set in stone D: My 180 days will be in the middle of June, so i'll be jumping on there as soon as I can to try and make sure I get everything I want. Most of us are a little picky so it can be hard to find a restaurant that can suit everyone. If you see a restaurant that you have a bad experience with, feel free to share with me, it would be much appreciated. So the following are the restaurants we've chosen so far.

Rose & Crown
Teppan Edo (we really enjoyed the experience last year when we tried it out)
Crystal Palace
The Hollywood Brown Derby (New, but i've heard good things)
Whispering Canyon Cafe
Be Our Guest (This was opened after our last visit so we haven't gotten a chance to experience it yet)
Coral Reef
Chef Mickeys (Another new restaurant)
Le Cellier

Our days are divided into: Two days Magic Kingdom, Two days Epcot, One day at each Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios, and One day for each Universal Park.

Resort:
We will be staying at Port Orleans French Quarter. We've stayed at Riverside before and loved it, so we're hoping to get the same experience here. I did have a bit of a struggle with this one, because Serena really wanted Carribean Beach as our resort this time.
I mean, I haven't heard the best things, and then there are double beds here rather than queens, and, being the largest resort, I figured it would be a huge time suck to walk around, fill our mugs, get food etc, specifically if we use the internal bus system. It just seems like extra time gone to me :confused3

Next up: Daily Plan:banana:
 
:rotfl2:

My son is 16. That is SO true!!!

It really is. She was issued a ticket one time in The Magic Kingdom for Frowning and Impersonating a Disney Character (Grumpy) :rotfl2:

I honestly don't know just how she can be so grumpy in the parks, but she can, and she does it well :rotfl:
 

OMG, that is hysterical about grumpy...
I totally remember being that age and thought everyone was out to get me too... Oh, I dread the teenage years with my boys... :)
 
OMG, that is hysterical about grumpy...
I totally remember being that age and thought everyone was out to get me too... Oh, I dread the teenage years with my boys... :)

Yes, it was hilarious to everyone but her. The man told her that if she continued impersonating Grumpy, she would be forced to ride It's a Small World 100 times :lmao:

Cast Members like this bring the extra magic
 
My family and I love the Whispering Canyon Cafe. It's loud and super busy, but we had a blast. My very shy son even participated :)
 
I think if she wasn't making that face she could be Belle...and I love Belle.

Yes, she could be. My sister is very beautiful.

My family and I love the Whispering Canyon Cafe. It's loud and super busy, but we had a blast. My very shy son even participated :)

We've gone before, but not for five or so years, so we're excited to go back. We found it funny, it's a great restaurant for kids. Especially when you want the ketchup you're brought all of it, and then you have to go give it to another family when they want it :rotfl:
 
You will love Chef Mickeys, my family has been seven times to Disney and we always ate at Chef Mickeys. It's a fun and enjoyable restaurant.
 
You will love Chef Mickeys, my family has been seven times to Disney and we always ate at Chef Mickeys. It's a fun and enjoyable restaurant.

Yeah, I hope so. I've heard mixed reviews, specifically about the character interaction, but I thought we'd try it. I'm hoping we get a good experience
 














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