autumnpalm
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 3,246
Okay, so I hope this is allowed, but in waiting for our upcoming WDW vacation, I thought one of the quickest things to do to make time pass would be to relive our trip from this summer!
We stayed at the POP from July 23-29 and we had a FANTASTIC time, but before I get into everything, let me outline the "cast" of this trip (don't worry, it's short!!)
Me
: I'm a Disney-crazy college student who was in charge of planning the entire trip. I love planning and organizing, so finding the DIS boards worked out perfectly. If any of you are familiar with Monica from "Friends", my friends and family tell me I am just like her.
Although I would like to think I'm just a little less neurotic.
Mom
: Along for the ride!! She basically gave me free reign and followed my lead on everything. She is a great person to travel with.
Even though she is NOT a fan of thrill rides, I managed to get her on Space Mountain, Tower of Terror AND Rock n Roller Coaster. It was my mom's birthday in the middle of the trip, so this was partially a birthday celebration trip for her.
That's it!! This was a girl's trip, and we loved it.
We'll start with: DAY 1.
We woke up super early and headed to the airport. We waited. Flew. Waited. Waited. Landed. Waited some more. Picked up our baggage. Waited. Checked in on the ME. Waited. And finally, after some more, you guess it, waiting.... we were in WDW!!!
We decided to stay at the POP because our trip was a slightly spontaneous one, and it looked the nicest of all the values. I was a little nervous since it was the first time we'd stayed in a value resort, so my fingers were crossed that it would work for us.
As soon as we pulled up, our driver helped us with our baggage, we walked to the front desk, there was barely any lineup at all, and we were in our room within about 20 mins. We got exactly the room I requested, 50s building, third floor, facing the lake. I would recommend this view to anyone. Close to the pool, main building, quiet, peaceful and had a terrific view!! The room was on the small side, but adequate. It was clean, nicely kept, and ready for us early... not much more we could ask for!!
We decided to start out our first day with a trip to DHS.
It was HOT on our first day... we are Canadians, so we are not used to heat and humidity. After arriving at DHS, we headed straight for the Tower of Terror to grab Fast Passes. My mom wanted to get this one over with so she could stop worrying about it.
After grabbing our FPs, we went straight to Rock n Roller Coaster and headed for the single rider line. Luckily, we ended up in the same "limousine" anyway, so it didn't really matter that we weren't seated beside each other. Rock n Roller Coaster is one of my absolute favorite rides at DHS. Love the blast off at the beginning, love the music, love the overall theming. My mom can actually handle this one pretty well, so we rode it twice in a row before she needed a break to collect herself (and her stomach).
After our two rides on RNR and a quick snack break, it was time to brave:
THE TOWER OF TERROR!!!
I'd been on the ride multiple times on a previous trip, but it was my mom's first time, so she was pretty nervous.
She spent about ten minutes talking to the CM manning the FP line and asking him how scary he thought the ride was.
He was hilarious because he kept telling her that it was just a quick elevator ride to her room, how scary did she think it was going to be?? I love when CMs stay in character, it adds so much to the magic.
After much deliberation, we got in line. The FP line moved so quicky, my DM kept saying that she wished we had just gone standby so we would have more time to prepare for the drop!! After about 5 minutes, we were in the preshow, and then onto the elevator! This ride is about one of my favorites in the World, let alone DHS. My poor mom, on the other hand, held a differing opinion.
On the bright side, she said the drop got her back all straightened out, so she would be able to cancel her weekly chiropractic appointment.
It began to absolutely pour after of ride of TERROR, so we scurried to the Primetime Cafe to see if they could take us early (we were about 1/2 an hour early). We really wanted to see our Aunt Claire, so we said we would wait until we could sit at one of her tables. Welllll that turned out to be over an hour wait, but by the time we got seated, it was absolutely worth it. Aunt Claire was so pleased to hear that we'd waited for so long for us, she went to the back and got us both Magical Moments certificates and we got a pictures. She kept calling us her "dolls" and went above and beyond in service. She even offered to give us an extra dessert to share (but we were too stuffed!!) We are really hoping that Aunt Claire will be working when we go in December, she was such a great waitress. So into her role, and such a genuinely nice person. Our picture with our "aunt":
The food was delicious, as well. I got the pork chop (I substituted the root vegetables for mashed potatoes) and my mom got the fried chicken. For dessert, I got the smores and she got the apple cobbler. I didn't manage to get a picture of her dessert before she finished it, but here are some pics of my dinner:
Mmmm I could barely finish these!!
After dinner we rode Star Tours (not my cup of tea, but still fun), saw Fantasmic (LOVE IT) and then came... the EMH!!
We were dead tired because we'd been up traveling since the break of dawn, but we decided we might as well take it on and see how much we could fit in. We lined up for FP for TSM about 15 minutes before they were rereleased for the EMH and already the lineups were crazy. We got the coveted FP though, which luckily were only a few minutes away. After doing a little shopping, we headed into the line.
Now. I really wanted to like Toy Story Mania. I had read so much about it on here, and it was so hyped up, I was prepared to go crazy for it. However... I just... it didn't quite do it for me *ducks*. I thought it was fun, but I would never line up for more than twenty minutes for it. I think I prefer thrill rides, and it just isn't my thing. My DM agreed with me. I guess I'll just lessen the wait times for everybody else!!
After TSM we rode Rock n Roller Coaster a few more times, I hit TOT by myself, and then we were so tired, we threw in the towel and called it a night. Some of my favorite (but blurry) night time photos:
By the time we hit the mattress, we were dead... but ready for DAY 2 with our wake up call from Mickey!!
We stayed at the POP from July 23-29 and we had a FANTASTIC time, but before I get into everything, let me outline the "cast" of this trip (don't worry, it's short!!)
Me
: I'm a Disney-crazy college student who was in charge of planning the entire trip. I love planning and organizing, so finding the DIS boards worked out perfectly. If any of you are familiar with Monica from "Friends", my friends and family tell me I am just like her. Although I would like to think I'm just a little less neurotic.Mom
: Along for the ride!! She basically gave me free reign and followed my lead on everything. She is a great person to travel with. Even though she is NOT a fan of thrill rides, I managed to get her on Space Mountain, Tower of Terror AND Rock n Roller Coaster. It was my mom's birthday in the middle of the trip, so this was partially a birthday celebration trip for her.That's it!! This was a girl's trip, and we loved it.
We'll start with: DAY 1.
We woke up super early and headed to the airport. We waited. Flew. Waited. Waited. Landed. Waited some more. Picked up our baggage. Waited. Checked in on the ME. Waited. And finally, after some more, you guess it, waiting.... we were in WDW!!!
We decided to stay at the POP because our trip was a slightly spontaneous one, and it looked the nicest of all the values. I was a little nervous since it was the first time we'd stayed in a value resort, so my fingers were crossed that it would work for us.
As soon as we pulled up, our driver helped us with our baggage, we walked to the front desk, there was barely any lineup at all, and we were in our room within about 20 mins. We got exactly the room I requested, 50s building, third floor, facing the lake. I would recommend this view to anyone. Close to the pool, main building, quiet, peaceful and had a terrific view!! The room was on the small side, but adequate. It was clean, nicely kept, and ready for us early... not much more we could ask for!!
We decided to start out our first day with a trip to DHS.
It was HOT on our first day... we are Canadians, so we are not used to heat and humidity. After arriving at DHS, we headed straight for the Tower of Terror to grab Fast Passes. My mom wanted to get this one over with so she could stop worrying about it.
After grabbing our FPs, we went straight to Rock n Roller Coaster and headed for the single rider line. Luckily, we ended up in the same "limousine" anyway, so it didn't really matter that we weren't seated beside each other. Rock n Roller Coaster is one of my absolute favorite rides at DHS. Love the blast off at the beginning, love the music, love the overall theming. My mom can actually handle this one pretty well, so we rode it twice in a row before she needed a break to collect herself (and her stomach).
After our two rides on RNR and a quick snack break, it was time to brave:
THE TOWER OF TERROR!!!
I'd been on the ride multiple times on a previous trip, but it was my mom's first time, so she was pretty nervous.
She spent about ten minutes talking to the CM manning the FP line and asking him how scary he thought the ride was. He was hilarious because he kept telling her that it was just a quick elevator ride to her room, how scary did she think it was going to be?? I love when CMs stay in character, it adds so much to the magic. After much deliberation, we got in line. The FP line moved so quicky, my DM kept saying that she wished we had just gone standby so we would have more time to prepare for the drop!! After about 5 minutes, we were in the preshow, and then onto the elevator! This ride is about one of my favorites in the World, let alone DHS. My poor mom, on the other hand, held a differing opinion. On the bright side, she said the drop got her back all straightened out, so she would be able to cancel her weekly chiropractic appointment.It began to absolutely pour after of ride of TERROR, so we scurried to the Primetime Cafe to see if they could take us early (we were about 1/2 an hour early). We really wanted to see our Aunt Claire, so we said we would wait until we could sit at one of her tables. Welllll that turned out to be over an hour wait, but by the time we got seated, it was absolutely worth it. Aunt Claire was so pleased to hear that we'd waited for so long for us, she went to the back and got us both Magical Moments certificates and we got a pictures. She kept calling us her "dolls" and went above and beyond in service. She even offered to give us an extra dessert to share (but we were too stuffed!!) We are really hoping that Aunt Claire will be working when we go in December, she was such a great waitress. So into her role, and such a genuinely nice person. Our picture with our "aunt":
The food was delicious, as well. I got the pork chop (I substituted the root vegetables for mashed potatoes) and my mom got the fried chicken. For dessert, I got the smores and she got the apple cobbler. I didn't manage to get a picture of her dessert before she finished it, but here are some pics of my dinner:
After dinner we rode Star Tours (not my cup of tea, but still fun), saw Fantasmic (LOVE IT) and then came... the EMH!!
We were dead tired because we'd been up traveling since the break of dawn, but we decided we might as well take it on and see how much we could fit in. We lined up for FP for TSM about 15 minutes before they were rereleased for the EMH and already the lineups were crazy. We got the coveted FP though, which luckily were only a few minutes away. After doing a little shopping, we headed into the line.
Now. I really wanted to like Toy Story Mania. I had read so much about it on here, and it was so hyped up, I was prepared to go crazy for it. However... I just... it didn't quite do it for me *ducks*. I thought it was fun, but I would never line up for more than twenty minutes for it. I think I prefer thrill rides, and it just isn't my thing. My DM agreed with me. I guess I'll just lessen the wait times for everybody else!!
After TSM we rode Rock n Roller Coaster a few more times, I hit TOT by myself, and then we were so tired, we threw in the towel and called it a night. Some of my favorite (but blurry) night time photos:
By the time we hit the mattress, we were dead... but ready for DAY 2 with our wake up call from Mickey!!
