"Up where they stay all day in the sun"- A Trip to Art of Animation! COMPLETE 9.16!

[elleinad16]

Hello, all!

We have arrived at Art of Animation--it's gorgeous!

Here's a picture of me with Duffy under the sea!:

Gonna go and grab lunch now and then head to Downtown Disney later.

 

[elleinad16]

Hi, all!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but life has been crazy! First the photobucket app wouldn't work from my phone so I never got to post photos live. And after we left Disney, everything fell apart. We had a friend pass away, family riddled with sickness, I had an interview, the list goes on. So, I'm happy to say that I'm finally ready to start my trip report! Disney was great and filled with so many new firsts for us. New resort, new restaurants, new Fantasyland. Hope you check back for more!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Welcome home! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

 

[elleinad16]

Welcome home! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!

Thanks! Finally getting around to posting!!

 

[elleinad16]

2/26/2013
Check-in

Chris and I woke up early to catch our flight out of MHT. We flew Southwest for the first time, which I don't think we'll fly again. Not impressed. Aside from the turbulence, our flight was uneventful. We arrived at MCO a little early and proceeded to the Magical Express line, which was packed! We couldn't believe how many families were in line to go to Disney World. We had to wait for 3 busses to come before we could board and make our way to Art of Animation. Overall, it went fairly quickly, but it was just very unusual for us to see lines that long.

We found out that Art of Animation was the first stop (yay!), so we relaxed and tuned in to the new and updated Magical Express movie. Then, before we knew it, we were pulling in!

We walked in and I was floored. The lobby was absolutely beautiful. The details were spectacular.

Hanging with Simba!

We went over to the counter, checked in, and headed to our room right away. We reserved a room in the Little Mermaid section and ended up on the first floor of Ursula facing the pool. Not a bad location, but not a great view, either. Inward to explore the fathoms below!:

Our room number

Little guy in our window

Double beds

Curtain divider between beds and vanity

Shower curtain

My favorite part of the whole room - Ariel's grotto in the shower!

View from our window

Continuation of view from window

Pearl light in bed

We looked at the clock and discovered it was only a little after 12:00! We didn't have anything major planed for another several hours, so we decided to unpack a little, freshen up, and head to the food court to get some lunch.

To be continued…

 

[elleinad16]

2/26/2013
Lunch & Exploring the Resort

We made our way out of the sea and walked over to the main building. The Landscape of Flavors food court was empty, so we took our time looking at the all the menus and both ended up ordering a Pastrami Cheeseburger - topped with pepper jack, tomato, lettuce and chipotle BBQ sauce on a whole wheat multigrain bread with clue slaw or house seasoned fries. We took our trays over to the Lion King section and dug in. The sandwich was pretty flavorful, but the bread made it a little dry.

Lion King section




Pastrami Cheeseburger


After lunch, we decided to walk around the other sections of the resort and take pictures. If it weren't just the two of us on this trip, and if we had the extra money, I would've stayed in a Cars suite. The area is themed so perfectly! (And I just love Cars.)

Radiator Springs!




Guido


Lightning!


I still can't stop laughing at this…


Then we walked through Nemo, which obviously left a great impression on me (not) cause I didn't get any pictures! Ooops. It was just a little too crowded for me, since the main pool is there. I did like the end of the buildings with the seagulls, though. If you were lucky and timed it right, you could hear them screaming, "Mine! Mine!", in passing.

After Nemo, we ended up at Lion King and enjoyed monkeying around in the elephant graveyard.







Finally, we made it back to the Little Mermaid section where I got my picture with Prince Eric right before it started to rain again.



Chris and I went back to the room, got our Vinylmation traders ready, and waited for a break in the weather. Once it cleared up, we headed for Downtown Disney!

To be continued…

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Great updates! I'm sorry to hear about the craziness since your return. We had a bit of the same.... It's already hard enough to come home from vacation without extra junk.

The resort looks fantastic! I love the grotto shower...too cool!

 

[librarygeek]

Glad to see you're working on a trip report too! Art of Animation looks so awesome. I really want to stay in a Lion King suite one day since that's one of my favorite movies. Even though we won't be staying there anytime soon we do have an anniversary photo shoot booked for August at AoA!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

 

[elleinad16]

Great updates! I'm sorry to hear about the craziness since your return. We had a bit of the same.... It's already hard enough to come home from vacation without extra junk.

The resort looks fantastic! I love the grotto shower...too cool!

Thanks! I know...Wouldn't it be nice if we could just hide in our "happy place" until all the real-world junk is gone?

Glad to see you're working on a trip report too! Art of Animation looks so awesome. I really want to stay in a Lion King suite one day since that's one of my favorite movies. Even though we won't be staying there anytime soon we do have an anniversary photo shoot booked for August at AoA!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!

Yay, hi, Becky!
You'll have such a blast taking pictures around AoA--It's seriously so amazing. I can picture you and Jason goofing around in the elephant graveyard.

Thanks for joining!

 

[elleinad16]

2/26/2013
Downtown Disney & Dinner at Splitsville with DISbrides

Once the rain showers passed, we made a break for Downtown Disney. We browsed through almost all the shops and did some Vinylmation trading. We still had a couple hours before our dinner reservation at Splitsville, so Chris suggested we take the bus to the Wilderness Lodge so I could get a t-shirt of my own. (Chris has a Wilderness Lodge shirt that I like to steal all the time.) I had a hard time deciding which shirt I wanted since they didn't carry his shirt anymore, but I eventually settled on one that had a sketch of the resort with logo on top. We sat in the lobby for ten minutes soaking in the atmosphere and then headed back to Downtown Disney.

We arrived at Splitsville a little early, but went to check-in for our reservation. We were meeting up with fellow DISbrides, Deena and Andrea (and their husbands), who I met during my wedding planning here on the DISboards. Our group started to trickle in, so we got our bowling shoes and were seated at table and lane on the first floor, near the entrance.

Fun 70's Disney-inspired mural


Since we were still full from our pastrami burger, Chris and I decided to split some Alley Nachos - BBQ chicken, nacho cheese, and pico de gallo, sour cream and jalapenos, which turned out to be a huge portion! We couldn't finish them all, so we boxed them up.



Then our group began to bowl! The guys were pretty competitive (and good!) and I was left in the dust.



I'm the one with the really low score, haha


Deena, Andrea, and myself with our Minnie and Mickey bowling balls!


We almost squeezed in two full games before our time ran out, then we wandered upstairs to see the rest of the building. (Just more bowling lanes and some bars.) Overall, Splitsville was a pretty fun place with decent food. A little on the pricey side, especially since they didn't accept any cast member discounts while we were there, but it was still something new to try. I enjoyed getting to see my friends, too! We all walked outside together and said our goodbyes.

Chris and I walked back to the bus stop and returned to Art of Animation. On our way back to the room, we passed some fun water art that had been left on the pathway. Disney magic!





We got ready to turn in for the night and prepared for EPCOT the next day!

To be continued…

 

[librarygeek]

Splitsville looks like fun! I'd love to try it, but DH isn't really into bowling. Maybe someday though!

And how cool that you got to meet Deena and Andrea!

 

[DSNY4ever]

Loved seeing your pictures of AoA, we can't wait to stay there in Sept. The grotto in the shower is so cute!

 

[elleinad16]

Splitsville looks like fun! I'd love to try it, but DH isn't really into bowling. Maybe someday though!

And how cool that you got to meet Deena and Andrea!

Oh, Splitsville is so much fun even if you don't 100% enjoy bowling. Hope you can get over there sometime. You could even go for just dinner, too!
I know, Deena and Andrea are sweethearts. I'm so happy they had time to fit me into their schedules. Hopefully I'll get to see YOU at Disney soon!

Loved seeing your pictures of AoA, we can't wait to stay there in Sept. The grotto in the shower is so cute!

Thanks for reading! You'll have a blast in September, that's for sure!

 

[librarygeek]

I know, Deena and Andrea are sweethearts. I'm so happy they had time to fit me into their schedules. Hopefully I'll get to see YOU at Disney soon!

I know, that would be great! I'm sure our paths will cross down there eventually!!

 

[dsnycrzy]

Hope your happy! You made me book a night at AoA. Cute report! Was about to look into the bowling thing until you said it was expensive. I'll pass this trip. Can't wait to read more.

 

[caralyn817]

I just found your trip report through your Vero Beach Report. I did a search looking for Vero Beach Trip Reports, since we'll be going there at the end of the month. I can't wait for your next update.

 

[elleinad16]

I know, that would be great! I'm sure our paths will cross down there eventually!!

I'm sure they will. We are obsessed with trips, after all!

Hope your happy! You made me book a night at AoA. Cute report! Was about to look into the bowling thing until you said it was expensive. I'll pass this trip. Can't wait to read more.

Hooray!!! That makes me SO happy! You will absolutely LOVE it at Art of Animation!
Splitsville definitely wasn't the most expensive thing I've done at Disney, but it's still a lot if you decide to bowl AND eat.

I just found your trip report through your Vero Beach Report. I did a search looking for Vero Beach Trip Reports, since we'll be going there at the end of the month. I can't wait for your next update.

Yay, thanks for dropping by and reading both reports! Vero Beach is amazing--You will have a relaxing time!

 

[elleinad16]

2/27/2013
New Test Track

Chris and I woke up the next morning so excited for our EPCOT day! We hadn't been since the day after our wedding with our bridal party, so we were couldn't wait to go back and enjoy all sorts of new things, including new Test Track. We walked over to the bus area at Art of Animation, and found the line to EPCOT was all the way past the stanchions and forming back toward the resort's gift shop! The resort cast members did a great job calling over busses quickly though, and we got on a bus about 10 minutes after that. Once we got into the park, we went straight to Test Track. We got fast passes and then jumped in the stand-by line. I was floored by the time we got inside, it was gorgeous!

Displays in the queue




We moved through the line, not knowing what to expect next, and finally we were loaded into the design room. We were standing next to an older couple at the computers and had a blast exchanging what our cars looked like. We would show them our monster truck-like tires and they would show us their big engines. We were in stitches from laughing so hard.

Working on our car




Our big wheels


From here, you load your car onto your key to the world card. When you arrive at the loading zone you tap the key card on the next machine and it pulls up all the stats and uses them against the other riders in your vehicle. I thought it was quite clever, even though the actual ride wasn't too revamped. It's still on the same exact track as the old version, but it looks more like something out of Tron with all the laser lights.

Loading our stats before we board


Our car was only 29 points behind the top design


Then we rode it a second time using our fast pass. Overall, I still love Test Track. The re-design was definitely much needed to keep up with the futuristic setting of EPCOT.

From here, we walked over to the Land Pavilion to grab a fast pass for Soarin', which was already for a time much later in the afternoon. On our way out, we grabbed a couple of pastries and some juice from the Sunshine Seasons Food Court. After our breakfast, we decided to go over to the World Showcase, since it was about to open. We meandered past the Imagination Pavilion and down the flower covered path that comes out near Canada. Towards the end of the walkway, it was themed for the upcoming movie, OZ the Great and Powerful. It's not a movie that I was particularly excited about, but I thought I'd take a picture of it for a few of my Disney Store cast members back home who couldn't wait to see it.

Crash landing


Movie title


The flowers around EPCOT were breathtaking and in full bloom. It was just a couple days before the start of the Flower and Garden Festival. I've never been for the festival, so I will have to go back at some point to officially experience it.

The yellow brick road led us to the start of the World Showcase and in we went!

To be continued&

 

[katt789]

Just found this through tumblr and after seeing a couple pics on the blog I think I may have briefly looked at the TR before! Subscribing to read after work!!

 

[elleinad16]

Just found this through tumblr and after seeing a couple pics on the blog I think I may have briefly looked at the TR before! Subscribing to read after work!!

Oh, hooray! I'm so happy you found me through Tumblr. Thanks for following along.