We'll sleep when we get home! A fun-filled mother/daughter vacation! (Updated 1/21)

[lmillercrew]

Listen to MeMom. She's right. Schoolwork is more important than your TR. We will all be here when you get back!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Hello Stephanie! Sorry I haven't commented on the TR in awhile. Like you, school was becoming pretty crazy and could only get crazier so I had very little DIS time, but it's the holidays (which end tomorrow ) So I found time to comment on all the TRs I fell behind on or catch up on. I've definitely enjoyed catching up on yours especially with all the great pictures and merchandise. I will definitely have to go back and make notes. I can't wait to read more! I also wanted to say I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Just found your TR and although I've only just finished day 1, I love your TR! You're a really good writer. I'm a little bit older than you and I'm going to Disney with just my mom soon, so that's how I found your TR- oh and we're staying at the Pop like y'all did

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Concentrate on your schoolwork and enjoy your play. Maybe you can get some DIS time over the break. I hope your trip was awesome!

Listen to MeMom. She's right. Schoolwork is more important than your TR. We will all be here when you get back!

Definitely. Trust me, I take my schoolwork VERY seriously! I've been all caught up and I'm ready to continue/start the trip report.

Hello Stephanie! Sorry I haven't commented on the TR in awhile. Like you, school was becoming pretty crazy and could only get crazier so I had very little DIS time, but it's the holidays (which end tomorrow ) So I found time to comment on all the TRs I fell behind on or catch up on. I've definitely enjoyed catching up on yours especially with all the great pictures and merchandise. I will definitely have to go back and make notes. I can't wait to read more! I also wanted to say I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Timmy! It's fine! Thank you for joining back again. Luckily, as a New York City high school student I have Regents Week coming up and I have a week break. I have 3 hour rehearsals each day for my musical but I'll have a lot of time to trip report too! Hope you had a great Christmas and New Years as well!

Just found your TR and although I've only just finished day 1, I love your TR! You're a really good writer. I'm a little bit older than you and I'm going to Disney with just my mom soon, so that's how I found your TR- oh and we're staying at the Pop like y'all did

Thank you so much! Have a GREAT trip with your mom & have fun!!

---------------------------------------------------

I wanted to share some news with all of you! My mom surprised me when I came home from dance class tonight!

She asked "Have you ever wanted to see the Flower Festival in Disney?" I had a feeling something was up and nodded. She broke out smiling and said "Well we're going!!!!"

I was shocked! I honestly never expected to be going in the spring time, with school and all, but it's just a Friday- Sunday trip! It was actually a gift of sorts for us, so it's completely FREE! I'm SOOOOOO excited! I immediately booked Via Napoli for Friday, March 9th (arrival day) and Ohana cloud9: ) for Saturday, March 10th (RIGHT BEFORE WISHES!!) I can't wait! Time to add a ticker, lol.

Have a magical weekend!​

 

[marDgreen88]

Ahhh, that's so exciting!

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Ahhh, that's so exciting!

I know! We're going to Epcot as soon as we get on Disney property on that Friday. There are Extra Magic Hours until 12am so we'll have plenty of time to check out all of the topiaries and ride as much as we can at night. Then, there is a brunch on Saturday with John Gidding from HGTV (we're not sure where yet) But before and after the brunch it's going to be Magic Kingdom all day! I actually just changed our Ohana ressie to Kona so we can eat earlier and get back to the Magic Kingdom for the parade, castle show and fireworks. On Sunday morning we're going to try and get up early and head over to Hollywood Studios depending on what time our flight is. ​

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Hello guys! Hope you all had a nice weekend and an easy transition back to school & work after the Christmas break. I've been editing pictures from this trip and my most recent trip all weekend, and I'm determined to have this trip report completed before my March trip! I PROMISE there will be some sort of update tomorrow. I hope everyone who has been following along in the past will come on over again. There's roughly 4 more days of this trip to report, so it shouldn't be too long. TTFN! ​

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Today was Tuesday, and that means EPCOT! I don’t know why, but ever since we started going to Disney, Tuesday & Thursday were designated Epcot days. Probably because in the past, there used to be EMH on both of those nights! (Now it’s just on Tuesdays)

I was all ready to go with my Peter Pan shirt!

It was a very foggy day in Walt Disney World!

We decided to escape the fog and head right into Innovations to do some of our favorite activities.

First up was The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. If you haven’t done this before - it is a MUST! You start off in a line outside the actual game rooms. Here, you’ll be offered a look inside the Pig family! Take a peek at some of their vacation memories, graduations and portraits.

Once your group is led inside, you will be pointed in the direction of your designated screen where you will begin your journey. Through a series of simple questions, you’ll choose what your goal is and the Piggy Bank will explain what’s going to happen next.

I choose a vacation. I believe the other options are a dream bedroom and a college savings fund.

Then, you receive your Piggy Bank! My favorite part.

If it’s a busy day, you’ll wait for a few moments to move onto the next room. But if it’s not, you’ll be led to the first game! There are three games in total. In one of them, you catch coins in the air. In another, you spread out your money in different parts of the room so you can’t lose a big chunk at once if it gets stolen. And I’m not sure what the other one is. All I know is we sure got a good score!

Before departing with my dear Piggy Bank, I had to get a picture with him!

The cast members could tell how much I loved the Piggy Bank, because they gave me this super cool sticker after we took pictures! I love when I get stuff that they give to the little kids.

It was time to say goodbye, and off our piggy went!

Oh, and if you were wondering if we accumulated enough money for that dream vacation…..we did!

Yay!!!

We exited and were on our way to the other Innoventions building.

Continued in next post​

 

[lmillercrew]

I've never seen that Piggy Bank game before, of course I don't spend a lot of time inside Innoventions. I will have to check it out in June.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

I've never seen that Piggy Bank game before, of course I don't spend a lot of time inside Innoventions. I will have to check it out in June.

It's really cool! We spent a little more time there this year. I actually tried out the Sum Of All Thrills in November, it's SO fun. Especially when you go upside down. ​

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Over at the other side of Innoventions, we were about to get Stormstruck!

Stormstruck is a unique experience where you feel as if you’re in the middle of a terrible storm. You witness houses blow apart, trees getting knocked over and even see a few cars fly. It’s a Disney 4D show with some special water and wind effects at just the right time. Overall, it’s really fun (and pretty scary at the same time!)

Once the show ended, you enter a room with a few different games. Some are physical and some are video games. We played one that we never played before. We didn’t really know what to do so it was funny! We were stuck on the third level, but thankfully some lady came and joined and help us complete the game. :woo:

Although the lady won level 3, guess who player 2 was? That’s right, yours truly!

We then went over to one of our favorites, The House of Innoventions. I’m always jealous of all the cool things in there!

The little kids waiting in line and I had a blast playing with this outside in the “front yard”

We chit-chatted with our tour guide since we were first in line for the tour. He was very sweet! Once we saw the cool system where the family can see who’s waiting outside their door, we headed into their kitchen. How do ya like that microwave?

Isn’t their dining room very colorful and neat?! Ours does NOT look anything like that :lmao

Having these bookshelves would be amazing! And I love that you can tilt the computer screen back and forth on this computer.

Here is my absolute favorite room in the house. I think it’s pretty obvious why….the BED!!!!

If I had that bed, I’d NEVER get out. :haha: It can hold the weight of 6 adults.

Another thing that I love and want in the house is this magic carpet. Isn’t this the cutest?!

I always find the last room a little bit boring, so that’s the last of my pictures here. They always say to ask them about anything you’ve seen in the house, so I may just have to ask about that magic carpet. I would ask about the bed…but I don’t think we can justify that price!

On our way out of Innoventions, we went to make some paper.

If I remember correctly, we had a less-than-friendly cast member there. But whatever, I got to make my paper!

Continued in next post

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[StephaniexMarie]

After we left Innoventions, it started to rain. HARD. And on top of that, it was COLD! It was in the 60’s! Definitely not your normal temperature for August in Disney World. We dashed into Mouse Gears and did some shopping to kill time (which, by the way, kills too much time sometimes!) and I picked up a hoodie to wear for the rest of the night.

Once it cleared up a little bit and it was just drizzling, we went over to World Showcase and started at Mexico - the perfect pavilion for less-than-desirable weather! We planned on going on the boat ride first, but a mariachi band was playing so we paused for a little bit. We never saw them perform before!

After we got off the ride, we browsed the gift shop. That seems to be a trend in this trip report….

We tried on a LOT of hats!

I don't look crazy at all...

Adios, Mexico!

We skipped a few countries because we had a reservation at one of our FAVORITE restaurants - Via Napoli!

Mmmm, I could eat here every single day and never get sick of it. Well, I probably would get sick of it at some point. But you get the point - it's SO good! I didn't take any pictures, but I remember what we ordered.

For our appetizer, we choose the Arancini (Rice balls stuffed with meat) and they did not fail to dissapoint!

For our entrees, my mom choose one of the most expensive items on the menu to take advantage of Free Dining - the veal parm. I tried a few pieces and some of the veggies and WOW! It was FANTASTIC! I kept it simple and ordered an individual margherita pizza. So good! I remember the first time I tasted their pizza in August 2010. I felt as if I died and went to Heaven.

Because of the dining plan, we ordered dessert here for the first time. Mommy ordered the Zeppole de Ricotta. She shared some because it was a generous portion, but I did not care for them at all. She liked them though, but she said she wouldn't order them again. I ordered the "Ugly But Good" which is actually not that ugly. It is VERY good though. I would definitely order it again. I was going to in November but decided not to because it was so cold!

Our waitress was FANTASTIC! Very attentive and very knowledgeable. We gave her a very nice tip.

It was still pretty light out after we finished eating. If I remember correctly, our reservation was at 4:35, so we were probably out by 5:30.

I annoyed my mom as she shopped for some wallets.

And once she shooed me away (I know, how loving!) I decided to look around myself.

We left empty-handed and were greeted with the beginning of a BEAUTIFUL sunset around World Showcase Lagoon.

Continued in next post

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[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Hi Stephanie!
I just found your TR and went thru it all this evening! Great job, very entertaining! How were the crowds for the week? We're thinking about going the first full week this August, and was wondering if it's going to be too crowded.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Hi Stephanie!
I just found your TR and went thru it all this evening! Great job, very entertaining! How were the crowds for the week? We're thinking about going the first full week this August, and was wondering if it's going to be too crowded.

Hi!
Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot.

In my opinion the crowds aren't too crazy. You just need to know where to expect them. For example: Main Street after Wishes will always be crazy - no matter what time of the year you go. The only difference is that in August it is humid and everyone is dying hot. Getting to the parks early and then taking mid-day breaks worked wonderful for us in August. During previous trips, we'd always sleep in and get to the parks at 11 or 12 in the afternoon and we were always extremely hot for a few hours until the sun set. If you tour the parks at the right times, drink a LOT of water, take breaks at your hotel or hotels near the park you're at, (Say you're at the Magic Kingdom and want a break - you can hop on the monorail and check out the three hotels there!) you'll be fine. ​

 

[Momto2PrncChrmgs]

Thanks for the info! I think (hope) we can handle the heat, as long as its not ridiculously crowded. We're early morning, rope drop people, then we usually leave mid-afternoon and go back to swim and get ready for dinner. Now just waiting to hear about a new job that would make it possible.

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Thanks for the info! I think (hope) we can handle the heat, as long as its not ridiculously crowded. We're early morning, rope drop people, then we usually leave mid-afternoon and go back to swim and get ready for dinner. Now just waiting to hear about a new job that would make it possible.

No problem! The way you tour sounds perfect for the summer. Good luck with that!! ​

 

[lmillercrew]

Great update! I want to go to Disney with you and your mom! Do you think your mom wants a 40 yr old to take shopping??? Just kidding. You are one lucky girl.

 

[heathsf]

Whew! I just finished catching up! Great report so far. You are very detailed and I love looking at all your photos!

 

[StephaniexMarie]

Enjoying the beautiful sunset, we strolled over to Germany to check out the train display. This is the first time I’ve really paid attention to the little details here and it was so worth it!

If you think that's spectacular, you should see what they add for Christmas!

We stopped for a quick bathroom break before leaving Germany and then we were ready to go!

Snow White's wishing well!

At the trading post, we stopped and looked around (wasn't that predictable?) and I tried on these cute Duffy ears! Look at that hair. I swear, it was straight in the morning!

The view was BEAUTIFUL from where we were!!

We skipped by China and made a stop in Norway. I'm guessing the line wasn't too long for Maelstrom, so we went on! I always feel like this ride can be way longer.

By the time we were out, the sun had set but the humidity was still present! This is what happens to your camera lens when you take it out of AC.

Continued in next post
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[StephaniexMarie]

We went to scout out our viewing spot for Illuminations right after that! There were a few palm trees blocking a little bit, but it's not like we hadn't seen the the show before. Illuminations is SO incredible. I love the music that plays just before the show starts, it gets you so pumped! Here are some pictures I took. On our most recent trip, I took SO many pictures of fireworks and I love the results. I'll get to that in my other trip report though!

Ahhhh, makes me wish I was in Epcot watching it right now.

We stayed put for a couple of minutes while the crowds thinned out and then made our way to Mission Space!

We went on the green side because my mom doesn't believe me when I say orange isn't that bad! Haha, honestly, the only difference I noticed was the change in pressure. It was SO much fun when I went on with my friends two years ago, we were trying to put our hands in the air and were miserably failing lol

Since we were taking it easy this night, we went over to The Seas With Nemo & Friends to hang out in the aquarium. I love sea creatures. I could easily spend an entire day in this pavilion. We didn't see any dolphins (my FAVORITE!!) on this night, but we saw them two days later! But, we did see some hidden mickeys.

Look at all those fish!

If we can't see dolphins, the next best thing is reading about them.

I really wanted to go on Soarin' after the Seas, but as pathetic as this sounds, we were both too lazy to walk up the giant hill that leads to the entrance. So we went to the Imagination Institute Open House instead! We spent a little bit of time in the ImageWorks part after since barely anybody was there.

We dragged ourselves out of the park after that to get some rest! After all, tomorrow we were going to be at the Magic Kingdom bright and early and then we had a luau to go to.

Continued in next post
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