Trip Report to the World!

[KristenRB]

Hello and welcome everyone! I'm Kristen and this is my first trip report. So be gentle! Thanks for stopping by to relive the moments, memories and food (ahhh, the food) that I enjoyed on my most recent trip to the world!

When:May 4th-May 9th 2014
Where: Offsite and Pop Century
Who:Myself and my DBF Tyler

I'll start with introductions



(This was from our first trip together to Disney May 2013. Pan was so witty and fun!)


Tyler and I have been together for over 4 years now, and we were both Disney kids who grew up to be Disney adults (and I use the term adult lightly here lol). We only recently took our first trip together May of 2013. It was then that we decided to become annual pass holders and so this was our 3rd trip in the last year, with one already being planned for this fall. (Hello Food & Wine Festival!!!)



Tyler grew up in southern California and frequently visited Disneyland as a child. In 1999 his family took a trip to WDW, but was only able to go to Epcot. He's a pawnbroker and lover of classic cars. His favorite Disney character is Donald Duck.






And then there's me, just your average Disney nerd. On any typical night you can catch me browsing the DIS, watching the little mermaid, or singing along to Disney Pandora! I'm a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics, so everyday is like dress up for me



Ok, well enough of introductions. Lets get this trip, er, show on the road!

ON THE ROAD TO HAPPINESS
May 4th

I recently moved to Birmingham, Alabama for a job promotion, while Tyler still lives in Pensacola Florida along the gulf coast. So I actually drove down from B'ham Saturday night after a long but exciting day at work. The night before I got my lanyard ready. Although I wouldn't be using it much :'( more on that later.



We always drive as it's cheaper, doesn't take to terribly long, and we enjoy each others company while we are enroute.

We woke up early and loaded all of Tyler's belongings into my car. Set out all of our dog, Chewie's, stuff for my dad who would be looking after him while we were gone and off we went. As we were getting onto the hwy, the sun was coming up over the bay in Pensacola. So beautiful and I must admit, I've missed it very much since moving to B'ham. Traffic was pretty clear and the weather was just perfect! We were making pretty good timing. After a bit, we both started to get a little hungry, so we stopped by a Dunkin Donuts off the interstate. We both got a large vanilla iced coffee and I had a grilled cheese.



The coffee was super yummy and energizing, but the grilled cheese was a little on the greasy side. Nonetheless, we were back on the road and getting closer and closer to Disney! Not to much longer I was seeing all the welcome center signs with oranges and promises of free juice. And before I knew it, I saw this beauty!



(please excuse the lovebug splatters)

We rolled into town right around 1pm. The first night we decided to stay off property, I had already reserved a great little hotel near the West Gate which made for a 5 minute trip to DHS, and that just so happens to be where we are headed to first! After all, it is Star Wars Day

 

[KristenRB]

MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU

After checking in and getting our gear ready. Both of us piled on our pin laden lanyards and I threw on my Minnie Ears, we were out the door and headed to Disney Hollywood Studios. We love going to DHS on our first day of our trips. Its become tradition. We had all of our FP+ planned on MDE and first stop was to check in at the Hollywood Hotel, aka Tower Of Terror! This was our first experience using our Magic Bands and FP+. I have to say, I was pretty impressed! Super quick and easy




After dropping in on our old friends at TOT it was time to snag some Backstage Passes with Aerosmith at RnRc.



Again, the MB were a lifesaver and we were in and out to go enjoy the park in this gorgeous weather. The only thing was, I didn't see anyone wearing their lanyards anymore. With the ease and convenience of the MB, they really aren't necessary A little piece of my heart broke, especially since I love pin trading and now they are just obsolete.



This was the last time Ty wore is this trip

Since it was Star Wars Day, we saw a lot of people in amazing costumes! I just love how everyone was really into it. We trekked it over to Star Tours so Tyler could use his last FP+ for the day. I don't do this ride, it makes me dizzy and so I usually wait for him in the gift shop. It was so loud and crazy busy, but also super exciting to be there! I found this little guy, my Shih Tzus namesake, Chewie!





After the madness of Star Tours we went over to Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. This place almost made me cry. I love the history and reading about all of Walt's humble beginnings. I am super grateful for all of the magic he has created for us!





I just love the way the characters used to be costumed Tyler was able to be my tour guide and explain a lot from Disneyland, which I still have yet to go. One day

By now we had used up all of our FP+, we were tired from being on the road all day and now we were ravenous! So we started walking towards the exit and I wanted to stop into Starring Rolls for a famous Butterfinger Cupcake. I have been craving this and it was all I could think about. Well, we get up to the doors and they were closed!!! Argh! They close shop promptly at 4, and so no cupcakes for me today. Did I ever get to take a bite this trip? We will find out later...

Dinner was off site at Chuy's near our hotel. Food was amazing, service...not so much. After filling up on nachos, burritos and cerveza, we headed back to the room to unwind and get ready for our first full day at the park and our check-in at Pop Century!

It's only been one day, and I'm excited to share the rest of the trip with you guys!

 

[disneymomma2two]

I'm in

 

[KristenRB]

I'm in

Glad to have you here!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[tazdev3225]

I'll be here when I remember. It's baseball season and I'm headed to the world in 6 days so super busy.

Love your furbaby's name. I already told my DH that our new pup, when I find the one I want, will be named Chewbacca.

 

[KristenRB]

I'll be here when I remember. It's baseball season and I'm headed to the world in 6 days so super busy. Love your furbaby's name. I already told my DH that our new pup, when I find the one I want, will be named Chewbacca.

Haha! That's awesome! And they are little fur babies

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[KristenRB]

Day 2

We checked out of our off property hotel and drove the quick trip over to our home for the next 4 days, Pop Century. The entrance is super cute, and I must admit that the theming here is so on point! The grounds are filled with giant sized tokens of decades past from the 50's,60's,70's, 80's and 90's. We had requested the 50's section to be nearest to the bus stop and the food court area since we were on the DDP, we knew we would want to refill our mugs quite a bit and we had a few ADR's to hop around to.


It was a super busy day at Pop, so we had to wait to check in (oops, forgot to do our online check-in). So Tyler got in line while I took a moment to check out Classic Hall and all the cool shadow boxes with pop memorabilia.









Once all the “here's my name and visa” and explanation of the buildings we were headed to check out our digs! We stayed on the 4th floor overlooking the courtyard with the bowling pin staircases.



The giant yo-yo near our building.




The view from our room.





Mickey towel!



Ok, so...Tyler and I stayed at Wilderness Lodge last fall and fell absolutely in love with that resort. It's beautiful, quiet and the ferry access to the MK is bar none. So we knew going into a value there would be some differences. The room was super small at Pop, and the bathroom shower area needed to be refurbished. We also found the room to be constantly hot. We referred to it as our “Little Easy Bake Oven”. The AC just wouldn't fully cool the room since the sun hit right on us. And the beds were much smaller than we had expected. It was only the two of us, so we didn't care to much. Besides, who spends that much time in their rooms anyway? But since we were at the happiest place on earth, we just didn't really care. After dropping off our bags we were ready to hit the park.
The walk to the buses were super quick, we had a great location in our building. If being close to the bus and the quickserve food court is important to you, def book a room in the 50's sectionn while staying at Pop. Also, the bus wait was soo short! I have to applaud Pop on their bus system. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus, and since we didn't share them with any other resorts, it was always a non stop ride.

Where were we headed? Epcot! We were excited to go to the Mexico Pavillion that day for Cinco De Mayo

 

[pcolapawnstar]

This sounds exciting! I'm watching intently!

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[stackyallred]

Joining in! My parents just retired to Pensacola from Indiana and it is such a nice place! I love driving over the bay with the sun shining. I live on the other side of the gulf... not quite the same beauty lol!

 

[KristenRB]

Joining in! My parents just retired to Pensacola from Indiana and it is such a nice place! I love driving over the bay with the sun shining. I live on the other side of the gulf... not quite the same beauty lol!

.

 

[KristenRB]

Joining in! My parents just retired to Pensacola from Indiana and it is such a nice place! I love driving over the bay with the sun shining. I live on the other side of the gulf... not quite the same beauty lol!

Haha! Well welcome! And yes, pensacola has some truly beautiful parts!

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[pcolapawnstar]

Where's the rest of the trip report I'm on the edge of my seat! I Love You!

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