Trip Report (FINISHED) The Neato, Don't Go, Is She Crying Again Trip Report!

So, this report is a little late but to be fair, I had every intention of writing it during my winter break and just couldn't find time! But now that I'm back being a full time student, doing observations, and working, I seem to have plenty of time!

When: December 12-19

Where: Wilderness Lodge

The Cast: I'm Anastasia (the lost Disney Princess) I jádore all things Disney, especially Beauty and the Beast! Next, we have my older brother, Artie, who enjoys meeting the face characters (primarily the women). Finally, there is my dad who listens to my mom, and my mom who plans EVERYTHING!

Without further ado , let's begin!

The trip began not so bright and early. For the first time ever, we left after the crack of dawn, around 9ish or so with our flight leaving around 10:30. Goodbye New Jersey, hello Florida!

waiting at the airport


This picture reminds me! Just take a look at all of that magical leg room in front of me! Don't ask how it happened, but we got placed in this magical row at random and definitely lucked out!


In just two short hours we were landing in Sunny Orlando! The car service we always hire to pick us up arrived a few minutes after us, but soon we were on our way! Upon checking in, I realized the guy at the desk went to college at Montclair University, where one of my best friend's goes! It's a small world after all. We lucked out and our room was all ready for us. We were on the side of the hotel closest to the boat and on the second floor. The only downside to our room was our lovely view of a murky swamp that bubbled (pictures later).

checking in!




After checking in and settling into our room we were all ready to eat. I honestly don't remember what I ate but I do know that I had a s'mores cupcake (arguably the best snack in all of Disney). The only issue we had here was upon receiving our refillable cups. My dad's never got activated properly so we had to go back and fix it, but no big deal!



Fun Fact: my dad can't smile and take a selfie at the same time


Before heading out to MGM...um, I mean Hollywood Studio's, we went back to the room to change into warmer clothes. Upon returning to the room we realized my brother's "magic" band was never activated, so back down to the front desk!



It wasn't long until we were on a bus and on our way. I do have to say, the buses this trip were boiling! I'm talking sickenly hot temperatures. It was awful. But soon enough were arrived to our destination!

Up Next: A Perfect Evening

 

[party like it's 99]

Warning: There will be an excessive amount of pictures of the Sorcerer's Hat! Considering it's been there 75% of my life, I'm pro hat.

We're here!


It's a bit of a mix up going to Hollywood Studio's on the first night. We always go to Magic Kingdom on the first day and we're creatures of habit, so coming here first was kind of a big deal.

First stop, Toy Story's Midway Mania, we had a fastpass plus calling our name!




I rode with Artie...and lost. But look at that accuracy!


Right after our toy story fastpass we had one for the new Frozen Sing a Long! Let me just say, no worker (we asked two) could give accurate and confident directions to this place. But, on our way there we stumbled upon the trading post, which was a blast! It's pretty hidden back there though and easy to miss, not to mention small!

Usually I don't like snow, but this will do!




crazy kids




This picture was taken while Artie was trying to ask for directions once again


Upon finally finding the Frozen Sing a Long, we got side tracked with a character line, minus the line! The first meet and greet of the trip!

 

[party like it's 99]

Night 1: Continued

It was finally time for us to be let into the Frozen Sing a Long! I didn't know what to expect but I sure was excited! First of all, our hosts were hysterical! Their comedic timing was what made the show. For those of you who have never seen it, they make this joke when Kristoff comes out about him being Justin Bieber, where the guy quickly says it can't be Bieber because this guys not in jail! A lot of the jokes were definitely aimed for the older audience members. All in all it was a cute show but you could tell the slapped this thing together pretty quickly. I was a little disappointed that Elsa only came out for a 5 minute song at the end too. But being surrounded by all of those little kids belting Let It Go made my inner teacher cry real tears of happiness. The energy in the room was amazing! After the show, they seamlessly dumped you into the Osborne Lights without any traffic issues, which was great.









The last time we were in Disney was January 2014, so we just missed the Osborne Lights. This trip, we left two days after my winter break from college began and it felt like Disney Christmas threw up on me! It was wonderful! We did the same thing my freshman year of college when I wanted nothing more than to be home for Christmas, but this time around I was more than ready!



yes, i know it's blurry, but this shows my enthusiastic singing


After a few songs it was time to leave and hit some shops on the way out. Last year, I bought my first Alix and Ani bracelet (the gold Mickey one). If you read my last trip report, you know what a fiasco that was! This trip I had my heart set on buying the Hollywood Studio's Sorcerer's Hat bracelet, because I wanted a piece of the hat since they are taking it away and ruining my childhood. It had been sold out online since they made this announcement, so I didn't have high hopes. However, the first store we went in had it! With my big purchase of the trip over, I was a happy camper.



Thus concluding the first day of our vacation!


Up Next: The Best Ride Ever

 

[mrdrift]

What a great first day at Hollywood Studios. Sounds like the family had a wonderful time and congrats at finding the bracelet of the hat. Following along.

 

[party like it's 99]

Day 2!

GOOD MORNING DISNEY! And by morning I mean 10ish. Nothing compares to waking up at Disney for the first time on your vacation. I feel like when you wake up here you can relax because the vacation has officially begun! Today's plan was to have a late lunch at Epcot and head to Magic Kingdom a little later because tonight they're open till 2! Before heading to lunch we grabbed a small bite to eat at the hotel.



Upon entering Epcot we quickly learned that it was going to be a very crowded experience. The line for the ball was almost 45 minutes...the people who get suckered into waiting in this line must be visiting Epcot for the first time because, though it's a classic, the ride is not that grand. This being said, we decided to leave this experience for another time and head over to our Nemo fastpass. Even with the fastpass this line took almost 20minutes, and in my experience it's usually a walk on. After a ride through the big blue world we wondered around looking at different fish and such.

As usual we really only looked at the manatees and dolphins. Ever since I did a research project on manatees in the sixth grade I've had this weird thing with them, so now every time we go to Disney we have to visit the manatees.

We're actually five.




This was the millionth attempt at taking this picture because there was lady standing right in front of them when we were clearly trying to take a picture. We said excuse me and tried to be obvious about it without being rude but there was definitely a language barrier.



Next, I convinced my parents to ride the best ride ever, something they somehow have never done before and didn't even know existed! That's right! I took them on Figment!!! (which had a nearly 20minute wait) Now I'd like to say that they adored everything about this ride and begged to go on for an encore viewing experience, but for some strange reason this did not happen.

After this we headed over to Test Track and did some single rider action. Now, if I have one complaint about this ride it's the showroom of cars at the end. This makes me want to admit myself to a psych ward! My dad and brother spend forever in here just looking at cars! I don't get.

Finally, after gazing at cars for what seemed like forever, we started heading over to the England pavilion for our Rose and Crown Reservation.



We were seated a little after our reservation time, but nothing too bad. I'm not one for food pictures, because when a girl's hungry she's not thinking about pictures, she's thinking about eating everything in arms reach! I ordered the classic fish and chips which were delish, and everyone else ordered a steak which they swear is the best steak on property (I don't like steak!). The only unpleasant thing about our experience were the birds everywhere! They were eating off of people's plates and showed no mercy! This probably bothered no one else but I have an irrational fear of them.





After lunch we decided to head back to the room for a little nap to prepare us for our 2am adventures!

Up Next: Back Where I Belong

 

[FlaggNL]

Great start of the TR! Love the pictures and absolutely following along!

 

[party like it's 99]

Great start of the TR! Love the pictures and absolutely following along!

thanks!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Looking forward to more!

 

[party like it's 99]

Looking forward to more!

I'll have more coming tomorrow, don't worry! I went home this weekend and our wifi was down so I couldn't add more and now I'm writing my lesson plans for the week and flipping between the super bowl and downton!

 

[Disneydreamer23]

Following!

 

[mrdrift]

Great half day at Epcot. I have always wanted to try the fish and chips from Rose but can't convince my family to go for lunch with all the other choices, one day. The phone booth in England is really cute and some thing my kids love. Following along.

 

[AmberFaith90]

Loving your trip report so far! The Finding Nemo ride is my daughter's favorite. I think we rode it a dozen times. The CMs should have just let us stay on the ride instead of making that long trek back...since the line was either non-existent or very short. Lol!

 

[party like it's 99]

Day 2 Continued

Our nap went a little longer than normal, but around 8 we made our way over to Magic Kingdom! It was around parade time but we made the executive decision to watch the parade another night and kind of just kill time until Wishes. This was the first time our first view of the castle was at nighttime, every other trip we always go to Magic Kingdom first during the daytime!



Since it was pretty cold out we decided to go on Splash Mountain, naturally. We had a fastpass for this originally but ended up not needing it. That's pretty much all we had time for before Wishes (which I made the executive decision not to miss!). We ended up watching it on the Tomorrow Land bridge which worked out really well. I never hit me that the genie from aladdin makes an appearance during this show and I just wasn't emotionally prepared. When Robin Williams's voice came on I'd like to say that I cried, but it was more like a deep sob. I just wasn't expecting it for some reason.



After the fireworks we went to go grab some food. We went to the place with the different bays. I honestly have no idea what we got, probably chicken fingers and burgers so nothing spectacular. After our well needed food break the guys and the girls seperated. My mom and I went to go watch Spectro Magic while the guys hit some rides. I never asked what they ended up going on but according to their pictures they went on the TTA!



Before meeting up with them after the parade, my mom and I went on the carousel! Over the years this has kind of become a must do for just me and my mom. Upon meeting up with the guys we went on a mad ride dash! We hit Winnie the Pooh (does anyone else always have to count when Tigger bounces?), The Little Mermaid, It's a Small World, Peter Pan, and The Mine Train (with a fastpass). Two things: 1. This was the first time I've ever waiting in the non fastpass line for Peter Pan (because it was so short), has the Darling house always been in there?! 2. They added Captain Hook''s "voice" at the end of the ride saying "I'll get you...Peter Pan!" and other such sayings with the name Peter Pan awkwardly added at the end. This is my favorite ride but I hate his fake mock voice at the end.

Also, this was our first time on the Mine Train! It was super fun and smooth but a little underwhelming. I did really like the part with the actual seven dwarfs though!



After all this excitement we took a break for ice cream! Again, I know the names of no eating places, but we went to the place right near Winnie the Pooh. It was here where my brother and I found out the best news of our trip: THE LINE TO MEET ANNA AND ELSA WAS ONLY 20 MINUTES! It was essential that we separated from the parentals and seized this opportunity! By now it was like 1am so there was only adults in line, which was so so fun! Our Anna and Elsa were beautiful and perfect in every way! It was everything I could have hoped for.











Following this wonderful experience, we were supposed to meet our parents at Buzz, but they decided not to wait for us, leaving me and Artie to defeat Zurg alone! Then they said they were at Pirate's so we went there...but they didn't wait for us! We went on alone (which is a good thing because it was unexpectedly closed for the rest of the trip) and it was good but the mist water fall wasn't working.

We got a text saying that they went on the Jingle Cruise and we ended up in the boat right behind them. The jokes on them because if they waited for us they would have had the best skipper ever! We were the only two on the boat so she asked if we wanted the corny jokes or the behind the scenes fun facts! She told us a bunch a fun facts, personal cast member jokes about the ride, and stopped the boat for five minutes to show us how the whole elephant water hole scene worked! It was such a cool opportunity!

Our parent's finally decided to wait for us and we all went on a rousing ride on the Magic Carpets together! Then, with minutes to spare we made a mad dash to Buzz for one last ride of the night! We didn't end up getting back to our room till around 3am but it was completely worth it! We basically did the entire park in one night with no lines and a whole lot of memories!



Up Next - The Lone Traveler

 

[party like it's 99]

Following!

Great, I hope you enjoy!

 

[party like it's 99]

Great half day at Epcot. I have always wanted to try the fish and chips from Rose but can't convince my family to go for lunch with all the other choices, one day. The phone booth in England is really cute and some thing my kids love. Following along.

Definitely try to eat there one day, it's great! Once my parent's find a resturant they like we stick with it every trip!

 

[party like it's 99]

Loving your trip report so far! The Finding Nemo ride is my daughter's favorite. I think we rode it a dozen times. The CMs should have just let us stay on the ride instead of making that long trek back...since the line was either non-existent or very short. Lol!

Thanks for reading! It's kind of become a joke in our family because my dad and I always insist on riding Nemo while my mom and brother begrudgingly join us!

 

[FlaggNL]

Great Frozen pics

 

[mrdrift]

Great finish to the day or the morning whichever you would call it 3 A.M.. Your parents were play a little catch us if you can with not waiting for the two of you. Great pictures at Magic Kingdom. Following along.

 

[DisneyFreakEst1994]

Definitely following along. Great TR so far. It's great knowing there are people around my age with the same Disney obsession as me!

Where did you get your ears from? They're super cute

 

[party like it's 99]

Great finish to the day or the morning whichever you would call it 3 A.M.. Your parents were play a little catch us if you can with not waiting for the two of you. Great pictures at Magic Kingdom. Following along.

Thanks, glad you're enjoying!