We did what?

[BariTravis]

Hi All,

This will be my first time typing out a true trip report!

Our trip was from: September 17-25th.

Who went?



I'm on the left (Travis) and my husband is on the right (Paul).

Where are we leaving from (where is home?) - Los Angeles International

What do we do? I'm a Global HR coordinator and Paul is an HR systems analyst at a gaming company.

I have been to Disney world 2 times and Paul has been a few times.
We are both Disneyland annual pass holders!

Why did we choose to go to Disney World? We went to disneyworld in 2015 during September and really enjoyed our time there. We definitely enjoyed food and wine and the halloween party so we thought why not go back?

Next up Travel Day!

 

[BariTravis]

Travel Day!

Our flight out of LAX was on September 17 at 12:15am ... That's right 12:15am.

I decided to try a new airline and that was a big mistake. However, my motivation was in a good place.
I decided that I would like to get the most out of my vacation by arriving to MCO around 8am and having a full
park or resort day. Boy did I have a good plan, but a horrible choice in airline.

I chose to go with none other than Frontier airlines who had a direct flight to MCO.

Here is what went wrong:

• The seats were literally park benches with a piece of fabric on them, they did not recline at all and they were so tight together.
• My feet could not fit under the seat infront of me with my small laptop bag.
• The staff did not seem excited or even happy to be on this flight.
• Half way there they tried to get us to sign up for their credit card for 4 free roundtrip flights....
• The seat back table could not even fit my iphone 6 and it would just plop down.

Here is what went right:

• We arrived at MCO 20 minutes early!

But let's skip back! for dinner Paul and I had an okay seafood dinner.

[url=https://postimg.org/image/m5ydwvwa7/][/URL]

I had the fish and chips and Paul had the skirt steak.
The food wasn't bad and is probably as good as you get in an airport so we ate all of it and rushed off to our terminal.
This is in the frontier terminal at LAX for inquiring minds.

Anywho we attempted to nap once the flight left LAX but were unsuccessful due to the horrible seats. So I just daydreamed of
the next few days we had coming at disney.

 

[BariTravis]

Day 1 - September 17th

Resort/Explore Day

We were happily on the Magical Express on our way to our resort at 8:30am!

We shortly made it to our stop : Port Orleans Riverside.
We decided to stop in and eat breakfast.


We got the standard platter that they sell, let me tell you this it may look basic... but boy did it taste great.
This definitely lifted our spirits as we decided to walk around the resort since we would not have our room until 2pm at the earliest.

We ended up talking to the DVC rep at Riverside who is a great guy and wasnt too sales like. I told him of my interest and knowledge of
DVC and how I would like to take the official tour. Well he said the day was booked up but he would keep trying to get me something set up in case of cancellations.

So we took the boat from Riverside to the Springs for some sight seeing.

Sightseeing took us to.. Jock Lindsey's bar!

I had the

Cool-headed Monkey
Starr African Rum, Van Der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, fresh Lime Juice, Watermelon, and Pineapple Juice

Let me tell you, they do not go easy on the alcohol. I'm more of a mixed drink with more mix type of person. But I do enjoy my wines.

It was great and about half way through the alcohol taste disappeared and I was left with magic.



Paul had some type of long island ice tea type of drink, but unfortunately no pics!

We then got a call from the DVC rep at Riverside and he had got us scheduled in for a viewing at Saratoga springs so back to the boats we went.

We were greeted with sodas and snacks (which I indulged). We had a great rep who showed us the various layouts and answered all my questions.

Well we ended up leaving as DVC owners at Animal Kingdom Lodge! We were also able to get a whole year of points free because of the time we signed up.

The DVC team shuttled us back to Springs were we had a wonderful reservation at the Boathouse.

I ended up having the Oscar style filet and OMG it was amazing and buttery and everything good in this world.





Paul had the crab stuffed lobster and boy did it look good. But it was messy! He throughly enjoyed it.

We then had Strawberry shortcakes for dessert. They were not very good in my opinion. The biscuit tasted sour for some reason.

We then left to prepare for our first park day!

 

[nursejackie]

Just found your trip report, can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks. I am getting excited now as it's fastpass booking day tomorrow

 

[nursejackie]

Just read your next instalment, soooooooo jealous you are now DVC owners. We are staying at AKL this December for the first time.

 

[BariTravis]

Just found your trip report, can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks. I am getting excited now as it's fastpass booking day tomorrow

Good luck with your fastpasses! I always struggle with picking them out!

Just read your next instalment, soooooooo jealous you are now DVC owners. We are staying at AKL this December for the first time.

Definitely let me know what its like to stay there. We never stayed only visited and fell in love with the savannah, resteraunts, atmosphere, and the lobby!

 

[nilla]

Crab stuffed lobster? Whoa. That sounds amazing!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Love Paul's shirt
Frontier sounds like a right old nightmare. Yikes
Congrats on becoming DVC owners!

Looking forward to more!

 

[BariTravis]

Crab stuffed lobster? Whoa. That sounds amazing!

It was amazing. Here is a photo from another website: http://www.easywdw.com/reports13/ewqsf26.jpg

Love Paul's shirt
Frontier sounds like a right old nightmare. Yikes
Congrats on becoming DVC owners!

Thank you! We just booked our trip to Aulani in May and once we hit 11 months we will book our vacation to AKL Jambo in November 2017!
Exciting times ahead!

 

[BariTravis]

Sunday, September 18, Day 2


Hollywood Studios


Our plan was to arrive at the parks near 9am. We arrived at about 9:15am went through bag check and through the touchpoints. We luckily had no problem and received green mickeys when we tried to enter. We had our first fastpass at 9:30am

it was





That's right Rock n’ Roller Coaster!

I'm actually a big fan of this ride. It is so smooth for a roller coaster that has flips and turns. AND for the first few side turns and swoops I can never figure out if I'm upside down or right side up lol


Up next we decided to get a photo in our usual spot.



Then we went to get lunch at a quick service ( I forgot the place, but they had 3 outdoor windows where you could get pizza, chicken strips, salads etc.. ) It was accross from the entrance to fantasmic and beauty and the beast.



What is strange about this picture, is that, I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza and since we were on the dining plan, I got the chocolate mouse and a sprite to drink. However, I have a picture of Paul's chicken nuggets. Oh well. I remember the pizza being tasty, but all of the pizza at DW is tasty lol.

We finished lunch and then headed out to the area in front of the great movie ride. There we saw a line forming so we did what all disney guest do, we lined up as well. lol I then noticed the writing on the side of the star wars stage - The march of the first order was coming up!


*

With the excitement of star wars we went to see the exhibits and the movie over at Launch Bay.
image upload free

We even stumbled upon the chase cardholder picture opportunity with Kylo Ren. I'm going to be honest... This was the most awkward photo op that I have had at a Disney park.



I mean just look at this photo. haha.


With that unfortunate photo op we saw that one of our favorites had a less than 10 minute wait!!!




We then went to Star Tours for our next fastpass! W had a great ride and decided that was enough park for a little while. So we hopped back on the bus and went back to Port Orleans for a nap!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

I mean just look at this photo. haha.

Much better

 

[MrsIncredibleNY]

I love the picture of you and Olaf!

 

[BariTravis]

Sorry for the incredible late updates! Life has been waaaaay to busy. But I'm writing the next post now.

 

[BariTravis]

Sunday, September 18, 2016 - Continued

After out nap we headed back on the bus to Hollywood Studios.
We had one thing on our mind and it was food! Luckily, we had an ADR to Mama Melrose's.

This was a first for us, and I see it being a repeat in the future. We were on the dining plan, and pretty much had the choice of any entree and the desserts.

I had the Shrimp Campanelle and it was amazing!

Paul had the Chicken Parmesan which he enjoyed as well.

We both ended up getting the dessert trio and I though it was small, but since I was stuffed it worked out perfectly.

We finished up and went over to the Holiday store to browse, about this time it was time to get ready for Fantasmic. We received Fast Passes at Mama Melrose's by booking with our dining plan under the pre-fixe option. But in reality it really isnt a pre-fixe its an open menu.

Fantasmic was amazing as always and so was the beds when we got back to Riverside!

 

[BariTravis]

Monday, September 19, 2016

This was one of my favorite days! We planned an Animal Kingdom Day mixed in with a little MK at the end.

Our first stop was... Tusker House for breakfast! It was amazing...especially the POG juice. That is now my preferred disney drink!

I really enjoy the buffets that are based on a specific food type (such as boma) but have everyday food items for the picky eaters.
I'm not extremly picky, but if it looks too unfamiliar I may not try it. The photo ops were great!



My favorite had to be Donald he spent so much time our section interacting with multiple tables.

We spent a good hour and a half here then went to our fastpasses.

Our FP+ Order was:

Festival of the Lion King,
Expedition Everest,
Kilimanjaro Safaris.

After the Safari we went to vist one of my favorite characters! Rafiki!



We then went back to the resort for a nap! Afterwards, we went to MK to play some sorcerer's of the kingdom and to pick up a QS meal for dinner. Unfortunately, I didnt take any pictures to remember where we ended up eating at.