Trip Report * Completed* For the First Time In Forever We'll Have Magic, We'll Have Fun

Hello @Longers @Doc Disney @prfctlyximprct @Tuvalu and my fellow Disney fanatics. Welcome to my 2016 Princess 5K Trip Report!


Who: Me (Lisa) and my younger sister, Tina
When: February 17 -22, 2016
Where: The Poly!
Why: 2015 sucked and we were in desperate need of the magic and protection of the Disney Bubble. And oh yeah, my 50th Birthday!!

How this trip came about:
In December of 2014 my sister suggested that we do something, just the two of us, to celebrate my 50th birthday. Knowing that she loves Disney as much as I do, I suggested a Disney trip. I'd been reading lots of runDisney trip reports so we decided that it would be fun to run in the Princess 5K. Tina had run in a few 5Ks, but until we came up with this idea I had never run a 5K in my life.
Right away I went into planning mode and started researching resorts and planning our tentative itinerary.
Then, in April of 2015 our mom, who has dementia, became very ill and needed surgery followed by a lengthy stay in a skilled nursing facility. At the end of April our dad, who was our mom's primary caregiver, had a sudden loss of his short term memory. Tina and I began taking 24 hour shifts of staying with and caring for our dad. As our mom improved, our dad declined and he passed away at the end of June. The remainder of 2015 was a blur of finding an assisted living community for our mom, clearing out & selling our mom & dad's home and dealing with all the other details that go along with that.
Throughout all of this, the thought of our Disney trip lifted our spirits and kept us going. We decided that along with celebrating my birthday, our trip would also be a celebration of our dad and our wonderful family of four.

Here is a photograph of our family on our first trip to Walt Disney World in the early 1980's.

This is one of our favorite family photographs. Tina was not happy that they put her in that sailor suit, but she was a good sport and smiled anyway!

While we were cleaning out our mom & dad's house we found a box containing all of the maps, pamphlets, guide books, and our mom's notes for every family vacation we took.
We were super excited to find these:




Up next: Our trip begins!

 

[Plowboy]

Sorry to hear about your mom's struggle. Lost my mom to complications from dementia last year. I know where you're at, try to hang in there. On a lighter note, liking the trip report.

 

[dnylla]

Great trip report so far! You and your sister looked like you had a blast! I've done some trips with just my sister and they're anyways fun, aren't they?

I love the old tickets and map your mom kept. And that was so nice of your sister to get you the Mickey basket. There's something special about staying at the Poly - that was my first WDW resort when I was younger.

Congrats on running the 5K! That massage at the Grand Florida probably felt so good after the race

I hope your mom starts doing better

 

[LisaBelle]

Sorry to hear about your mom's struggle. Lost my mom to complications from dementia last year. I know where you're at, try to hang in there. On a lighter note, liking the trip report.

So sorry for your loss. Thanks for the encouraging words.
Thanks for reading. Glad you are enjoying the report.
Hoping to post more soon!

Great trip report so far! You and your sister looked like you had a blast! I've done some trips with just my sister and they're anyways fun, aren't they?

I love the old tickets and map your mom kept. And that was so nice of your sister to get you the Mickey basket. There's something special about staying at the Poly - that was my first WDW resort when I was younger.

Congrats on running the 5K! That massage at the Grand Florida probably felt so good after the race

I hope your mom starts doing better

Thanks! We really did have a blast. We are definitely planning more sister trips in the future.
Finding those old maps was great! We had so much fun comparing old to new. Our kids really enjoyed looking at them too. It was hard for them to imagine WDW without DHS & AK.
I loved the Mickey basket! It was a great surprise.
The Poly was beautiful! Loved the laid back atmosphere and we couldn't beat the view!
Loved running the 5K. Yes, the massage was awesome. It was a perfect way to relax & recover after our race. The walk back to the Poly from GF was one of my favorite parts of our trip. Best massage I've ever had! Could use another one now after all this real world stress!
Thanks for following!

 

[MinnieM123]

So sorry to hear that your family is going through similar things with your grandma . My heart goes out to you. You are so right about our memories being our most priceless treasures.

I also experienced a similar situation with my elderly parents some years ago, so I understand what you're going through. Glad there are other positives going on in your life, so that you can maintain some balance between the up and down emotions. Best wishes to you and your family.

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for sharing such a great report! Love it all! Congrats on the 5K and off course following along!

 

[LisaBelle]

I also experienced a similar situation with my elderly parents some years ago, so I understand what you're going through. Glad there are other positives going on in your life, so that you can maintain some balance between the up and down emotions. Best wishes to you and your family.

Thanks so much for the encouragement. So sorry you had to go through a similar situation. It does really help to know that others understand what you are going through. Glad to have you following along.

Thanks for sharing such a great report! Love it all! Congrats on the 5K and off course following along!

Thanks for reading. Glad you are enjoying it. The 5K was one of the best things I have ever experienced!

 

[LisaBelle]

Hi Everyone! I was hoping to add to my report tonight, but when I scrolled back through my report to see where I'd left off, all my pictures were gone .
I tried several things and photo bucket is not cooperating with me . Not sure what is going on but I am out of patience for tonight. I will try again tomorrow. Really disappointed !

 

[Tuvalu]

Hi Everyone! I was hoping to add to my report tonight, but when I scrolled back through my report to see where I'd left off, all my pictures were gone .
I tried several things and photo bucket is not cooperating with me . Not sure what is going on but I am out of patience for tonight. I will try again tomorrow. Really disappointed !

We'll wait .

 

[LisaBelle]

Thanks! Wish you didn't have to wait.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks! Wish you didn't have to wait.

Good things are worth waiting for .

Teachers are BUSY. And teachers who are wives and moms are SUPER BUSY.

 

[lostpro9het]

Hi Everyone! I was hoping to add to my report tonight, but when I scrolled back through my report to see where I'd left off, all my pictures were gone .
I tried several things and photo bucket is not cooperating with me . Not sure what is going on but I am out of patience for tonight. I will try again tomorrow. Really disappointed !

Yeah, I think PB was being a real jerk last night . It effected my pictures too but things seem to be better now.

 

[LisaBelle]

Yeah, I think PB was being a real jerk last night . It effected my pictures too but things seem to be better now.

It's funny that you commented about this on my report because after I couldn't get my photos back I decided to catch up on reading your TR and noticed that most of your photos had the same message. I even thought about commenting and asking you if you knew how to fix it. Glad it is working again so I can continue.

 

[LisaBelle]

Hooray! Photo Bucket got their act together and I can post again!!

When I left off we were leaving Universal. We caught a cab back to the poly. Tina and I may or may not have taken a nap in the cab .

We got dressed and headed to the Grand Ceremonial House to catch the monorail. We were approached by a photo pass photographer and had our own little photo shoot in the lobby of the Poly!

Peeking out from behind the surfboard.


Tina had a moment with Donald


Posing with the Tiki. We loved him. In fact we were VERY sad that they didn't have any miniature versions of him that we could buy.


Because we are sisters he had us pretend to be mad. It was hard to do because we were having soooo much fun.


Happy again!


Ready to board the monorail for my birthday dinner, but where were we going?
Drum roll please!


We were super excited for this ADR because neither of us had ever been there before and because I LOVE WISHES and I was going to be able to watch them from atop the Contemporary!!!

I should explain that even though we were celebrating my birthday on this trip, my actual birthday is in January. We thought about doing the trip around the WDW marathon, but it was right after we went back to school from Christmas break and I didn't feel like I should do that. So we decided to postpone my birthday celebration until February. That way we got to be princesses and celebrate my birthday !

For some unknown reason I didn't take many photos that night. We arrived at the Contemporary and went to check in. We were taken upstairs and seated almost immediately. We were seated in a smaller room and although we couldn't see the MK from there, the view of Orlando was beautiful.

I ordered a Mai Tai and Tina ordered a glass of wine. I don't have a picture of her wine and I didn't write down which wine it was, but we both enjoyed our drinks.


The bread arrived. It was delicious!


This was my birthday dinner so we went all out and we both ordered the lobster bisque.


We both ordered the filet . It melted in my mouth and I loved the risotto.


For dessert I ordered the creme brûlée . I LOVE creme brûlée and this one was awesome.


A very happy birthday girl!


We could see some of the Star Wars fireworks during dessert. When we finished dinner it wasn't quite time for Wishes yet. We were both tired and for a few minutes we toyed with the idea of going back to the Poly but I knew I would regret not watching from up there so we hung around on the balcony and enjoyed looking at MK and Celebrate the Magic. Then the show finally began! The soundtrack was very crackly and at one point I was afraid it was going to stop altogether ! Luckily the soundtrack held on and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of watching Wishes from a new point of view.
My apologies to all the photographers here on the forum. These firework photos are not great, but not being a photographer I just happy to get a few photos.





Up next: Shopping at the Contemporary and our last day in the parks !

 

[MinnieM123]

Oh my!! What a wonderful birthday dinner you had at the California Grill !!! Now that's what I call a first class, belated birthday celebration!! Way to go!!!!

 

[LisaBelle]

Oh my!! What a wonderful birthday dinner you had at the California Grill !!! Now that's what I call a first class, belated birthday celebration!! Way to go!!!!

We loved our meals. I would definitely go back again for a special occasion.

 

[Doc Disney]

I ordered a Mai Tai

Thats definitely my favorite Mai Tai! Glad you enjoyed California Grill

 

[Tuvalu]

Ready to board the monorail for my birthday dinner, but where were we going?
Drum roll please!

We were super excited for this ADR because neither of us had ever been there before and because I LOVE WISHES and I was going to be able to watch them from atop the Contemporary!!!

You were seated in the Monterey room...it is Woody & my's favorite spot at CG. When we ate there for his birthday in November, we were able to watch the Osborne Lights dance...so cool! I could not tell from your bread basket picture, but was there Lavender Foccacia? That is my absolute fave

Did you watch Wishes from the front of the Contemporary roof or the rear? The speakers on the back were much clearer with the sound.

Woody and I have an ADR on May 5th...can't wait!

 

[Gabe1]

And caught up on your trip report again! Enjoying your Sis trip so much!

 

[LisaBelle]

Thats definitely my favorite Mai Tai! Glad you enjoyed California Grill

It was great! Can't believe your trip is so close. Wish I were going back!

You were seated in the Monterey room...it is Woody & my's favorite spot at CG. When we ate there for his birthday in November, we were able to watch the Osborne Lights dance...so cool! I could not tell from your bread basket picture, but was there Lavender Foccacia? That is my absolute fave

Did you watch Wishes from the front of the Contemporary roof or the rear? The speakers on the back were much clearer with the sound.

Woody and I have an ADR on May 5th...can't wait!

Thanks for all the info! It would be so awesome to see the Osborne Lights from the Monterey room. So sad I never got to see the Osborne Lights.
Yes, we had lavender foccacia .
We were in the front.
Enjoy your dinner ADR. Just realized that's next week! Lucky you!

And caught up on your trip report again! Enjoying your Sis trip so much!

Thanks for reading! Glad you are enjoying it. I always worry that my TR will bore people lol!

 

[LisaBelle]

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I am finally back for another update. This update will be brief because I am in the midst of uploading photos to Photobucket. I realized that the camera photos from the final days of our trip were never uploaded so I am doing that now.
So, we had just finished our wonderful dinner at California Grill and were awed by the sight of watching Wishes from atop the Contemporary .
On our way to dinner we noticed the shops in the lobby and decided to stop and have a look on our way out. We loved this shop and ended up closing the place down! My receipt says that it was called Bayview Fashions and Gifts and it had some unique merchandise. One for the things that pulled me into the shop was a case of baked goods that contained a Mickey Shaped gingerbread. I love gingerbread and who can resist when it is Mickey shaped! Sadly, I realized after we left the shop that I never bought the Mickey gingerbread .
When I was getting ready for my trip I asked my family what type of souvenirs they wanted. My DS told me that he wanted something to set out on a table. He is a golfer so this is what I decided to buy for him. A Golfer Mickey Bobble Head!

Then I found this for me:

I love this so much! I also bought a miniature magnet version for my best friend. Being a teacher, I love kids and the kids in this artwork are so adorable! I love how it depicts It's a Small World. It's a Small World is special to me because as kids, our mom bought us a series of Walt Disney records. They came with a book of pictures from Disney movies and as you listened to the story on the record you turned the page when Tink rang her bell . One of the records was a tour through the ride It's a Small World. That record was one of our favorites. As I ride through IaSW I can always hear the narrator's voice in my head!

Tina bought a few items there as well and then we headed for the monorail. We stopped for a few photos of the beautiful art work.




Then we boarded the monorail back to the Poly.


Where we found this………

Nooooooo!!!!! We don't want to be reminded that tomorrow is our last full day at Disney !
We decided not to deal with the sadness of being reminded that our trip was nearing the end. We put the ME info on the desk and began discussing our plans for tomorrow at the MK!