Your ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE to Disney World at Christmas Time! UPDATE x2 10/21

[__disneygirl]

I am so happy you are having such a wonderful time at school!!! It sounds perfect for you there. Yay!

Oh man... I remember you guys telling us about that terrible offsite place when we were at Epcot. That's all I'll say for now cause I don't want to give away what ended up happening...but I will say, Disney Property all the way!!!!

I hate the area outside of Disney property. I know there are some really nice areas surrounding Orlando, but the tacky tourist highways are NOT cute. I hate all the stores with fake Disney crap and huge glowy signs with painted Mickeys on them that don't even look like Mickey...uuuuuuuuuggggggggh. I didn't realize it, but before this last trip, I hadn't left Disney property on one of my trips since 2006. It's so much better to be in the bubble the whole time!

 

[arbolita]

Regarding Universal, I do think it's worth checking out once, especially since you can easily fit in both parks in one day and they're right across the walkway from each other. The Spiderman ride is pretty cool and so is the technology they use for the main Harry Potter ride. Although since they got rid of Jaws, I think we're breaking up with Universal for awhile. We actually decided that next time we do a long Disney vacation, we'll use the day we typically see Universal and go to SeaWorld, just to check it out. I'll definitely let you know how it is!

 

[pixidustmom]

All caught up. Finished the last trip and looking forward to the two combined ones.
Glad your enjoying your new school and major. I was so into my drama classes in high school. Even lettered it in. I would have died to have the chance you have. Instead I got excited to start a family instead.
I have some sad news. You know how I was planning my trip with the whole family including the grand kids. Well I had a very bad health scare, I have pulmonary embolism (several clots in my left lung). So any monies for a trip our out of the question since I have no insurance. The worst part is that is my biggest worry. I know I will be fine in time but I wanted this trip so bad!! I dream, sleep, eat Disney. I know you understand that feeling. So not having a time frame to ever get to go is breaking my heart more than I can say. My family thinks I am nuts as they said I shouldn't worry about that but I do. It's just something inside that I can't shake. It's the one place I feel so good at. I wanted to share this love with my grand kids. ugh!!
Anyway, thank you for sharing your stories, I do love to read them.

 

[Caretames1]

I'm so glad you're enjoying your new college. I bet you'll have the best year now!

Your hotel sounded creepy! I would have felt uncomfortable being asked those questions as well. And the bagage man....CREE-PEE!

I hope you kept your belongings close.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Yay that you are loving your new school! Your class schedule sounds like so much fun, especially the dance class .

Sad that you guys ended up staying off property . Hopefully the resort ends up improving a lot. I just had 2 laugh when you guys were comparing everything 2 Disney, that is EXACTLY what I do when i go anywhere in orlando that isn't disney. I also completely understand how annoyed you were about the advertising of other orlando theme parks. I really don't understand how you go 2 orlando and NOT at least WANT to spend any time in Disney .

That place does sound super sketchy. I probably would have been really creeped out if a hotel worker spent that much time in my room.

LOVE the mickey santa ears! I have a pair just like them, I use them as a decoration during the christmas season! I also happen to have the same shirt you are wearing in the pic as well, It really is super cute!

 

[cocofifi]

I love, love, love all of your trip reports! So entertaining. It's refreshing to see you having a good time with your mom. My little girl is 7 - I hope she still wants to go to Disney with me when she's your age!

 

[ChattaAlley]

I know it must feel like a foreign land staying off property. That place didn't look that bad. But I know ow I would feel if I were to stay off property too so I understand.

The Thomas the Train was cute. My nephew loves him.

 

[Vwdiva93]

Hey Jess! Joining in kinda late, but that's because this is probably my first times being on the DIS so far in 2012. haha I think I'm going to make it one of my resolutions to come on here more often! It's just hard though because I have no trips at all in my future until I do the DCP.

I'm so glad you finally found the right college! I went (and am still going through) pretty much what you did at your first school as well. I definitely thought I had chosen the perfect school too but I haven't clicked with anyone here really and have been thinking about transferring. It also hasn't helped that my school is about 3 1/2 hours away from my home Enough of my sob story though, haha. That's cool that you're taking ballet! I took it last semester and oh my gosh it was actually hard! I wasn't expecting it to be so intense, and I remember my calves were insanely sore for the first 2 weeks! It was a really interesting class though, I just wish I was better at it!

Anyways, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trips and I'm so excited to hear about your audition! I hope to audition for fun one day so I'm anxiously awaiting your post about your experience!

 

[ronnmel]

I'm so happy for you that you are finally loving your college experience! College can be such a fun time and a good growing up experience.

Awwwww, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience (why am I saying that word so much today?) with the Time Share. In 2009 we spent one night with DH's parents in their Time Share, the Hilton grand Vacation Club. It was AMAZING! Beautiful granite counter top, huge tub in the master bathroom, beautiful fountain in the middle of the lake, nice big pool. Everything looked so luxurious! Like, Grand Floridian luxurious, but at a fraction of the price. Plus, we could literally walk to the Premium Outlets. Yay for shopping!

But, despite how amazing it looked and our great time there, we refused their offer of staying there for our honeymoon in favor of staying at POP Century. It may not be nearly as luxurious, but nothing beats being on Disney property.

 

[POLY1985]

Jess, I'm so glad you are happy at your new college. Best of luck with all that.

I have to confess I am a Disney snob. Part of the fun of going to Disney is staying there. Even if someone were to give me a free place to stay offsite, I think it would ruin the trip for me. After spending all day in the parks, the thought of leaving the property would be too upsetting. I like heading back to my resort and seeing all my hidden Mickey's.

 

[disneyhockeymad]

Oh wow that hotel didn't look fun at all. We always stay off property (for a Brit it's sometimes better value, plus my parents refuse to spend money on the Disney hotels because at the end of the day we only use it to sleep in!) but the hotel we use is definitely a lot better than the one you were at, at least you had your Christmas trip to look forward to!! Donald sounds über creepy too, why would he need to run through everything with you? I'd kick him out haha.

Your Christmas hat and shirt are so cute! I've been to Disneyland Paris a few times at Christmas and have a santa hat with mickey ears on that I wore all the time, it was so cool loved it!

I'm so so glad you're loving school now, your classes sound amazing! My friend is at The American Academy of the Dramatic Arts in NYC and does things very similar to you, she loves it too I can't wait to hear what else you get up too

Ooh and I may have to pm you at sometime, we're approaching the 180 mark for our trip and I need suggestions for places to eat, the last time we went to WDW was 2008 and there are so many new places now I want to try!!

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

I am back and following along!

I am so glad everything is going well with your new college!

I foresee a Disney resort with 90s theme music in your future? I am sorry that other place was so bad but once you go Disney there really aren't any hotels that compare!

 

[cindianne320]

Anxiously awaiting your next update!!!

 

[JessicaFaye508]

I am so happy you are having such a wonderful time at school!!! It sounds perfect for you there. Yay!

Oh man... I remember you guys telling us about that terrible offsite place when we were at Epcot. That's all I'll say for now cause I don't want to give away what ended up happening...but I will say, Disney Property all the way!!!!

I hate the area outside of Disney property. I know there are some really nice areas surrounding Orlando, but the tacky tourist highways are NOT cute. I hate all the stores with fake Disney crap and huge glowy signs with painted Mickeys on them that don't even look like Mickey...uuuuuuuuuggggggggh. I didn't realize it, but before this last trip, I hadn't left Disney property on one of my trips since 2006. It's so much better to be in the bubble the whole time!

Thanks girl! I am SO much happier oh my God. I actually don't mind being here. At my first school I like cried every day for the first month and then sporadically until I left. Geez, I'm just SO relieved right now. And LOL there is seriously this girl in the theatre program and she looks JUST like you. It's so crazy!! I need to keep reminding myself that it's not you.. or else I'll start talking Disney with her and she would probably think I was insane.

AHH what a nightmare. I will continue with the story, but you already know what happens...

I TOTALLY AGREE. ugh it like... ew. I just don't even like it. It just makes me feel gross. The fake Disney stores are just tacky. The stuff isn't even cute! I wish it was... because if it was cute I would buy ALL of it. Unfortunately... no. Living in a disney bubble is just five million times better!

Regarding Universal, I do think it's worth checking out once, especially since you can easily fit in both parks in one day and they're right across the walkway from each other. The Spiderman ride is pretty cool and so is the technology they use for the main Harry Potter ride. Although since they got rid of Jaws, I think we're breaking up with Universal for awhile. We actually decided that next time we do a long Disney vacation, we'll use the day we typically see Universal and go to SeaWorld, just to check it out. I'll definitely let you know how it is!

Yeah, if I ever have a trip where I am down there for a VERY long time, I definitely would go there. Maybe during my DCP or something. I'm just not familiar with all of the movies all of the rides are based on in universal, so I would solely be going there for the thrill factor. Eh someday I will. I would pick seaworld over it only because I love dolphins and whales and aquatic animals haha. So let me know! We almost went on our past trip... but Disney won. SURPRISE!

All caught up. Finished the last trip and looking forward to the two combined ones.
Glad your enjoying your new school and major. I was so into my drama classes in high school. Even lettered it in. I would have died to have the chance you have. Instead I got excited to start a family instead.
I have some sad news. You know how I was planning my trip with the whole family including the grand kids. Well I had a very bad health scare, I have pulmonary embolism (several clots in my left lung). So any monies for a trip our out of the question since I have no insurance. The worst part is that is my biggest worry. I know I will be fine in time but I wanted this trip so bad!! I dream, sleep, eat Disney. I know you understand that feeling. So not having a time frame to ever get to go is breaking my heart more than I can say. My family thinks I am nuts as they said I shouldn't worry about that but I do. It's just something inside that I can't shake. It's the one place I feel so good at. I wanted to share this love with my grand kids. ugh!!
Anyway, thank you for sharing your stories, I do love to read them.

Ah thanks for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed the last one and are now here for these adventures!
Thank you! I am so happy too! Theatre seems to have hit you in a similar way it affected me. Some people just really love it! But aww starting a family is quite a blessing too, though! I'm sure that was very exciting and rewarding as well!
I am SO SORRY to hear that sad news Oh my gosh I feel so terrible. I will pray for you and your family - I hope you get better soon! And I will also pray that you get to go to Disney soon. I'm sure it will work out soon and you'll have something booked, but that unsettled feeling is the worst! I really am so sorry! But I hope you get to share the magic with your grandkids very soon! I'm sure you will!
Thank you so much for reading! It's great to have you here!

I'm so glad you're enjoying your new college. I bet you'll have the best year now!

Your hotel sounded creepy! I would have felt uncomfortable being asked those questions as well. And the bagage man....CREE-PEE!

I hope you kept your belongings close.

I really hope so! This year has been crazy, but it looks like we are headed in a much better direction now!
Yeah, it just gave off a very bad vibe! Not a pleasant experience, really.
Haha we did! That's for sure!

Yay that you are loving your new school! Your class schedule sounds like so much fun, especially the dance class .

Sad that you guys ended up staying off property . Hopefully the resort ends up improving a lot. I just had 2 laugh when you guys were comparing everything 2 Disney, that is EXACTLY what I do when i go anywhere in orlando that isn't disney. I also completely understand how annoyed you were about the advertising of other orlando theme parks. I really don't understand how you go 2 orlando and NOT at least WANT to spend any time in Disney .

That place does sound super sketchy. I probably would have been really creeped out if a hotel worker spent that much time in my room.

LOVE the mickey santa ears! I have a pair just like them, I use them as a decoration during the christmas season! I also happen to have the same shirt you are wearing in the pic as well, It really is super cute!

It's a lot of fun! And the theatre kids are great! I'm just so happy I'm here - this is working out great!
I ALWAYS compare everything to Disney. It's so bad because Disney completely spoils you. But like... come on. Nothing can be better!
Yeah, I definitely was. Like, I know it was his job and all... but he was just skeetchy.
Thank you! I love them they're so cute! I actually wore them to an ugly sweater party this year! And aww do you? I love that shirt! I got it on black friday!

I love, love, love all of your trip reports! So entertaining. It's refreshing to see you having a good time with your mom. My little girl is 7 - I hope she still wants to go to Disney with me when she's your age!

Aww thank you so much! And yes, my Mom and I have SO much fun! I'm sure your little girl will want to go to Disney with you! Someday you'll have to go on a mother daughter trip! I'm sure it will be magical!

I know it must feel like a foreign land staying off property. That place didn't look that bad. But I know ow I would feel if I were to stay off property too so I understand.

The Thomas the Train was cute. My nephew loves him.

Yeah it really wasn't the "look" that sketched us out. It was more of the feeling we got when we were there, you know? Ah well. If I have to stay off property again I would rather stay at the ones near DTD.
And yeah my brother used to LOVE Thomas. So cute. I'm glad kids still like him so many years later!

Hey Jess! Joining in kinda late, but that's because this is probably my first times being on the DIS so far in 2012. haha I think I'm going to make it one of my resolutions to come on here more often! It's just hard though because I have no trips at all in my future until I do the DCP.

I'm so glad you finally found the right college! I went (and am still going through) pretty much what you did at your first school as well. I definitely thought I had chosen the perfect school too but I haven't clicked with anyone here really and have been thinking about transferring. It also hasn't helped that my school is about 3 1/2 hours away from my home Enough of my sob story though, haha. That's cool that you're taking ballet! I took it last semester and oh my gosh it was actually hard! I wasn't expecting it to be so intense, and I remember my calves were insanely sore for the first 2 weeks! It was a really interesting class though, I just wish I was better at it!

Anyways, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trips and I'm so excited to hear about your audition! I hope to audition for fun one day so I'm anxiously awaiting your post about your experience!

Hey girl! I was actually just thinking about you since you haven't commented in a while! It's good to have you back! But I totally understand.. when I didn't have a trip planned for my entire junior year, I never came on the DIS. Once you have a plan, I'm sure you'll be back! But yay for the DCP! When are you thinking of doing it??

I am too. Oh my gosh, it's such a relief. If you're feeling that way, I would definitely look into other schools. I'm sure if you stuck it out you would survive.. but it's also important to be happy. College is so complicated. I really hope that everything works out for you!

Yeah Ballet is intense! All of us are always sore after it haha but it's really fun. I am SO happy I get to take dance classes because I quit dance when I was young and I regret it SO MUCH. ugh. But let's not get started on that lol

Thanks for reading again! And oh yes, I'll do a whole update on that! I'm glad you're looking forward to it!

I'm so happy for you that you are finally loving your college experience! College can be such a fun time and a good growing up experience.

Awwwww, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience (why am I saying that word so much today?) with the Time Share. In 2009 we spent one night with DH's parents in their Time Share, the Hilton grand Vacation Club. It was AMAZING! Beautiful granite counter top, huge tub in the master bathroom, beautiful fountain in the middle of the lake, nice big pool. Everything looked so luxurious! Like, Grand Floridian luxurious, but at a fraction of the price. Plus, we could literally walk to the Premium Outlets. Yay for shopping!

But, despite how amazing it looked and our great time there, we refused their offer of staying there for our honeymoon in favor of staying at POP Century. It may not be nearly as luxurious, but nothing beats being on Disney property.

Exactly! It's a crucial part of life and a time when you're figuring yourself out... and if I was at a place that I really didn't like, that just would have turned out badly overall haha

Ohh the Hilton's are always so nice! I definitely wouldn't mind staying there! I wish our place would have been better... but oh well. I need to get to those Premium Outlets someday!

And aww that's precious. I would TOTALLY do the same thing. The Disney resort experience just beats everything!

Jess, I'm so glad you are happy at your new college. Best of luck with all that.

I have to confess I am a Disney snob. Part of the fun of going to Disney is staying there. Even if someone were to give me a free place to stay offsite, I think it would ruin the trip for me. After spending all day in the parks, the thought of leaving the property would be too upsetting. I like heading back to my resort and seeing all my hidden Mickey's.

Thank you so much!
Hahaha my mother and I are too, don't worry. I totally understand what you're saying. It just makes the trip, truly. Disney resorts always win.

Oh wow that hotel didn't look fun at all. We always stay off property (for a Brit it's sometimes better value, plus my parents refuse to spend money on the Disney hotels because at the end of the day we only use it to sleep in!) but the hotel we use is definitely a lot better than the one you were at, at least you had your Christmas trip to look forward to!! Donald sounds über creepy too, why would he need to run through everything with you? I'd kick him out haha.

Your Christmas hat and shirt are so cute! I've been to Disneyland Paris a few times at Christmas and have a santa hat with mickey ears on that I wore all the time, it was so cool loved it!

I'm so so glad you're loving school now, your classes sound amazing! My friend is at The American Academy of the Dramatic Arts in NYC and does things very similar to you, she loves it too I can't wait to hear what else you get up too

Ooh and I may have to pm you at sometime, we're approaching the 180 mark for our trip and I need suggestions for places to eat, the last time we went to WDW was 2008 and there are so many new places now I want to try!!

Yeah I know there are places that are very nice off property, however this just wasn't one of them! Yeah, I'm glad we had our Christmas trip to look forward to, too. It was wonderful. Oh God, I miss it SO MUCH.

But yeah.. like I don't know. That was Donald's job but still. I was like... LEAVE. PLEASE. That's enough explaining!!

Thank you! And aww that's so cute! I bet that was really fun!

Me too! I'm SO much happier to be here! And wow, that's so awesome that she goes there! I don't' think my school is quite as intense as the schools in NYC, but the program is really great and I am so happy I get to be a part of it!

Oh my gosh, PLEASE do! I love suggesting restaurants and giving planning tips, so if you have any questions at all just let me know! I'd be happy to help!

I am back and following along!

I am so glad everything is going well with your new college!

I foresee a Disney resort with 90s theme music in your future? I am sorry that other place was so bad but once you go Disney there really aren't any hotels that compare!

Caitlin!! Welcome back, girl! We've missed you!
Thank you so much!
Haha you will have to see...! And I know, it's so true. Disney just spoils us all! But that's okay because I love it haha

Anxiously awaiting your next update!!!

I think I am going to try and write it now! Thanks for reading!​

 

[SuddenlyObsessed]

Hi! I am Jackie, I am pretty new on here but wanted to tell you that I have LOVED reading your TRs and you inspired me to subscribe and start writing my own pre-TR and hopefully a full TR once my trip is done in June. Your enthusiasm and love for Disney has really inspired me and made me more excited than ever for my upcoming Disney trip (which I consider my first "real" Disney trip!) Anyway, I look forward to reading more about your adventures from your trips in December!

Also, congrats on the move to a new school. I transferred colleges after my freshman year and it was also the best decision I ever made. It sounds like you absolutely did the right thing.

 

[JessicaFaye508]

Chapter 5: What a TRIP!
December 6th, 2011

So we zoomed out of the Westgate and breathed a deep sigh of relief when we went back under the purple arches. PRAISE THE LORD, WE'RE BACK AT DISNEY!

We had a dinner reservation at 5 o'clock. As you may remember from my introduction.. this was not only an audition trip, but it was ALSO my Mom's 50th Birthday Trip!!! So I thought we should start off our adventure at her FAVORITE restaurant - Sanaa!

We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge and went over to Kidani Village!

They told us to Park in Timon E and then take the elevator up to the main building. (Mother wanted to pose like Timon haha. What a princess.)

Welcome to Kidani Village!

We went Sanaa and we were seated immediately! Perfect!

I have a slight disclaimer about our dining experiences this trip: We were SO bad at noticing the names of our waiters/waitresses! It was awful! I didn't write any down and I didn't really write my little dining reviews. I guess I was just lazy because I knew we had the big trip coming up. I'm just warning you about that now. Sorry about that!

All I know is that we had a waitress at Sanaa and she was very pleasant! We liked her a lot!

We were seated in the main room this time, but we were pretty far from the windows. Which was fine... I was more concerned about the food anyway.

Even though we were far, we could actually see some Giraffes and Zebras out the window! Well... when it was light out anyway. After it got dark, seeing animals was a hopeless cause.

Christmas Tip #6: If you want to see the animals out the windows at Sanaa, make sure you go during daylight! And during the Christmas season, that would translate as a lunch or an early dinner!

We placed our order, and while we were waiting for our food, my Mom and I were discussing our hotel situation. We were just in this weird, shocked state of "hahaha uh... what to we do?"

We did some brainstorming, and we were just curious about how much it would cost to switch to a Disney Resort. Thanks to my handy dandy iPhone, I was able to look up some rates. We mulled it over while we ate.

Soon our food was served! HOORAY!

Another thing about these Christmas Trips is that you may see some repeats of meals from past trips. Sometimes certain foods are SO good that we just get them multiple times!

I ordered the same meal that I got in April, which is the Beef Short Ribs, Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce, and Basmati Rice.

YUM. Like... this meal is just pure brilliance. Sadly, I was still slightly full from Wolfgang Puck Express so I don't think I finished all of it... but DANG it was good. I definitely recommend getting this combination of items. It's perfection.

My Mom started with the Salad Sampler. Roasted Beets, Kachumbar, and Bhel Puri were her three choices. The African sounding salads were recommended by our waitress, and my Mom really liked them! Unfortunately, I don't know which one is which. I do know the beets are in the middle, though.

Mother got the Tandoori Lamb with Basmati Rice for her entree once again - same as the April trip. Mmm it's so good! I decided I'm definitely getting that for myself next time. It's SO delicious.

And side note: Basmati Rice is definitely the way to go. If you have trouble deciding between that and the Five Grain Pilaf - TRUST ME. Get the Basmati Rice. It's so SO good.

And what's a Disney meal without dessert?! I ordered Sanaa's AMAZING Orange Sesame Cake that I also got in April. I just HAD to get it again! It's one of those desserts I was looking forward to for months. The flavor is amazing. It tastes like yellow cake with a hint of orange. And it's light and perfect and YUM! Also, the little sorbet that comes with it is very good too! It's more tart so it's a good compliment to the sweet cake. It it basically is made up of little ice shavings. It's interesting haha, I love it! Such a winning dessert.

They also brought Mom a little Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sorbet for her birthday! How nice! She loved it!

YAY CAKE.

Sanaa is still my Mom's all-time favorite Disney restaurant! We loved our dinner! It was FANTASTIC! So amazing.

After finishing every last crumb of those beautiful desserts, we headed out of the restaurant.

I wanted to see the Christmas Decorations in Kidani's Lobby so we went upstairs.

SO PRETTY!

I love these little signs:

This tree is INSANELY tall. It's awesome.

We also just wanted to take a quick look in the gift shop.

And guess what.

The Cast Member in the gift shop looked EXACTLY like Donald!!!

I'm not even kidding. My Mom and I were cracking up. We were SO tired so we were probably delirious when we concluded this, but from a distance it DEFINITELY looked like him! HE WAS FOLLOWING US!!! lol just kidding, he really wasn't.

We left the gift shop and went downstairs. And then we got lost and ended up back at Sanaa.

And I took a picture of this little tree by the elevator:

So we went back up to the main floor and we had to ask for directions on how to get to the parking garage.

I may or may not have asked the Donald look-alike cast member JUST so I could get a look at his name tag and make sure it wasn't him.... LOL.

DON'T WORRY! It wasn't. It was just our imaginations going a little crazy on us. But he did have an accent. And so did Donald. But... a lot of people have accents in this world. Yeah... that's what we'll go with.

I'm tellin' ya... staying off property messes with your brain.

Or maybe Disney is the one who has messed with my brain in the first place.......

Eh, I like it that way.

ANYWAYS, thanks to the directions from the Donald look alike cast member, we found the parking garage.

And things were looking up!

Or in my case.... down.

STORY TIME.

We were walking through the parking garage and because I am a VERY SMART teenager, I was EXTREMELY absorbed in my iPhone.

But in my defense, I was looking up Disney Resort information!!!!

I was reading my phone and walking a little slower behind my Mom. So we're going along, everything is going swimmingly.... and then...........

BAM!

Suddenly I'm on the ground.

And I literally had no idea what just happened.

Apparently there was this step in the parking garage (once again in my defense - IT WAS THE SAME COLOR AS THE PAVEMENT SO IT BLENDED IN) and I just completely tripped and fell because my iPhone DISTRACTED ME!

So yes, Jess took a tumble. Hardcore. In Disney World. In Kidani Villiage's Parking Garage.

WHAM.

I know my life is awesome.

I just remember the whole thing happened in slow motion. I just had no idea what was happening! I was just goin' down and the whole world was a blur and there was NOTHING I COULD DO TO STOP MYSELF.

It was actually extremely humorous if you think about it. If I was witnessing the scene, I would have probably laughed at myself.

There were two people who were walking a little bit behind us that saw me go down but they didn't say anything. I could imagine that they got back to their car and started cracking up. HOW STUPID I MUST HAVE LOOKED TRIPPING BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING AT MY IPHONE!!!!

Somebody really should have recorded it and sent it to America's Funniest Home Videos. I don't know if that show even exists anymore. But STILL.

The not so glamorous part of the situation was that I scraped my knee REALLY bad. (I still have a scar to this day. But it's from Disney. So whatever.) I also scraped my elbow. And I landed on my hand, but thankfully no marks were left there.

Also, my camera was around my neck and hit the ground when I fell. Thank JESUS nothing happened to it. I'm actually quite surprised, but I am SO glad.

So, in the meantime my Mom was walking ahead. And she was like "...Jess, where'd ya go?" and then she looked back and I was on the ground. HAHAHA. Why am I such a frump? I have no idea.

My Mom came back and helped me get up. So we walked to the car and got inside.

And then I just started CRYING! Like... okay, I may say I'm 18 but I really think I'm 8 years old. I cried like my child self when I used to fall on the sidewalk in my neighborhood back in the day.

I mean, my knee was in the most pain, but just the fact that I fell made me cry because I was so shocked!

Then after like 3 minutes.... I started CRACKING UP. Like absolute uncontrollable laughter. I was laughing so hard I was CRYING. Oh my God. Tears were basically streaming down my face no matter what that night.

Now, my Mom is the sweetest person in the world and you would never guess it, but she finds it EXTREMELY hilarious when people fall down. (I mean, after she checks if they're okay.) Like... she can't breathe she laughs so hard!

We pulled out of the garage when I started finding the humor in the situation. So she's driving the car through the confusing streets of Walt Disney World and she's DYING laughing and telling me "DON'T MAKE ME CRASH, DON'T MAKE ME CRASH!!" and I'm in the passenger seat just having a laughing/crying fit and restating what just happened. I couldn't comprehend that I actually FELL.



Oh my God. It was just SO FUNNY. I just couldn't even believe it.

Ahh... anyways. So I never even told you where we were going! Well this is the situation:

It was like 6:20 or 6:40 pm when we left Sanaa and we had somewhere to go anytime after 7 o'clock. So since we had a little time, we decided to go on over to a DISNEY resort to see if they had any availability for the night! We thought it would just be easier than calling.

That chosen DISNEY resort was.... *drum roll*.... PORT ORLEANS RIVERSIDE!

Since I was sitting down I was safely able to get the address from my iPhone, and we were at POR in no time!

We pulled up to the gate and the guard asked about our situation. My Mom explained to him that we wanted to check availability here because we were staying offsite. He asked where we were staying and we told him "The Westgate Villas." He said "say no more!" and opened the gate for us. Hahaha thank you, kind sir!

Mom went to the front desk and I went to the gift shop to get some peroxide and band aids for my scraped knee and elbow.

I sat on a chair in the lobby and mended my wounds while Mom chatted with the Cast Member at the desk. Thankfully it wasn't a weekend, it was off season, and we got an Annual Pass Discount, so after a little negotiating, we were able to get a reasonable price for a room for the next three nights!!!!! Mom used her birthday money that my Dad gave her to go towards the room because she just "couldn't wake up at that westgate hotel on her 50th birthday!!"

Being at Riverside was seriously a breath of fresh air. The decorations were SO pretty and I was so so HAPPY! We both were! I was still a little shaken up from my fall, but it just felt so good to know that we had a Disney Resort to go home to later!

Once we were all settled and I was all bandaged up, we went back to the car and drove to THE MAGIC KINGDOM! We had Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party to get to!

We parked in Captain Hook 80. We got all the way to the tram... and we realized we forgot the party tickets in the car! So we had to RUN back to the car, (which was at the end of the row) and run BACK to the tram - thankfully before it left.

This was my first tram ride EVER! So that was a pretty monumental moment. I'm glad it was really frumpy.

We got to the TTC and took the monorail. And then WE WERE AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM!!!!

ASDFGHJKIUGHBKHGKJFGKJDHLKJHGBKASJKFSGJHJLHADKJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My excitement keeps growing as I take more trips, I swear to God.

We got through the gates and received our wristbands. We walked in and I saw my first look at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Decorations since I was TEN YEARS OLD. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! They were SO BEAUTIFUL!

Ahhh so we had a whole party ahead of us! Get ready to be put in the Christmas (and Disney) spirit...!

Continued in Next Post​

 

[Caretames1]

OMG! I would have laughed so hard if I'd have seen you fall. I don't know why I do that, I am always concerned if a person is ok, but falling in my book is FUNNY!

I am glad you were ok, along with your camera and phone!


POR!!! MY home away from home! It looked so beautiful. It was actually one year ago today that we were at POR for 10 days.

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Happy belated birthday 2 your mom

Sanna looks amazing! I have heard nothing but amazing things about it!

about your fall, that sounds a lot like me right down 2 the fall, sorry about your injuries though!

Yay you got another room 4 the night did u have 2 go back 2 the other hotel at all during the trip or did u stay @ Port Orleans the rest of the trip?

Yay MVMCP That party is one of my fav things about Disney @ Christmas!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Awww, poor you, I bet that hurt! However, I will say that it is kinda funny but ONLY because you were so absorbed in your phone! I have seen so many "phone" accidents.

Hurray for grabbing a Disney room!

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Happy late birthday 2 your mom

Sanna looks amazing! I have heard nothing but amazing things about it!

about your fall, that sounds a lot like me right down 2 the fall, sorry about your injuries though!

Yay you got another room 4 the night did u have 2 go back 2 the other hotel at all during the trip or did u stay @ Port Orleans the rest of the trip?

Yay MVMCP That party is one of my fav things about Disney @ Christmas!