Trip Report "This is a down and Dirty trip! No complaining!" A June 2016 trip report

Jambo everyone! We are back from our down and dirty trip to wdw! We had tons of laughs, lost a license, had 4 attractions break in Epcot, experienced Universal for the first time, and of course, met tons of amazing cast members. This trip got the nick name down and dirty for a few reasons. The big one was that is trip was not supposed to happen. We normally go to Disney every 2 years but when we realized everyone would be working this summer, we took it as an opportunity to spend 6 days in Florida. Because this was a last minute budget trip, we had no dinning reservations, stayed value, and didn't have park hoppers which meant if it didn't get done the day we were at that park, it wasn't happening. We learned throughout this trip a lot of hidden gems in the parks (especially food wise), and that sometimes, you don't need all the extra things and planning to have a fun time!

Enough rambling though, on with the show!

The cast:
Myself(Emily)- 24 years old, just finished my first year being an elementary school teacher! Used to work at DAK! Favorite park: Animal Kingdom!

Mom- The parent of us girls! Not a big ride fan but she loves characters and just being in Disney. Mom has a dairy allergy (this was her first trip diagnosed with the allergy). Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom

Samantha- 19 years old. Doesn't like mornings. Was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease about a year ago. Can only eat white meat or seafood. Talks to everyone she meets. Favorite park: Epcot.

Haley- 16 years old. Has grown up going to the parks. Loves Winnie the Pooh. Goes with the flow. Favorite park: DHS, favorite this trip, magic kingdom.

Resort: Pop Century
Dates: June 21st-June 26th.

Day 1- Last Day of School! Last Day of school!

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 3:35 pm but before we could get on our plane, Haley and I needed to go to our last day of school! We both had half days which worked out great. Haley finished school at 11:10am. My dad picked her up from school, ran to the store to get a few last minute things, then was picking me up by 12:20! We were off to the airport!

We arrived at the airport around 1:20. When we walked in we discovered something amazing, the line to check bags for southwest was nonexistent. With our bags checked in and boarding passes in our hands, we were off to security by 1:30.

Then something even more amazing happened, there was no line at security! We made it through in 5 minutes and were at our gate by 1:40!!!!

We grabbed some lunch at McDonalds and Fresh City and just relaxed for the next hour until our plane arrived. While we were waiting, received this email:


Around 2:30 our plane had arrived! One step closer to Disney!


Now since we booked southwest, we had to board with our group. The problem was I bought my ticket individually, my mom bought her ticket individually, and then my sisters bought their tickets together. This meant we weren't one after another for boarding time. I boarded first with A55 and I became the annoying person trying to save seats for the others. Mom boarded next with B04 and was able to get the seat behind me. Sam and Haley boarded B15 and B16 and got the middle seat next to us. Yay for all of us sitting together!


And then we sat on the runway for an hour

Apparently, there was some "weather" we were going to fly through on our original path. I say "weather" because when checking radar, we only saw light rain and it was out at sea. But Pilot knows best! He continued to keep us updated the entire time which was good. Our plane ended up leaving Hartford at 4:40 pm.

The flight was uneventful (thankfully). There was a peanut allergy on board so we got some yummy chex mix

We landed around 6:50pm, only 20 minutes later than our planned land time! When we arrived at Magical Express, We went into line 5 and saw the line was already a few families deep. We thought that meant a bus must be coming soon. The bus came in about 30 minutes and we were set to go to Pop Century!





Coming Up: Downtown...I mean Disney Springs at night! and 16 hours in the Magic Kingdom!

 

[myhappyplace]

Loving it so far! I like how each park is represented in your favorites!!

 

[jrogue]

LOL at that stop sign just casually hanging out on the floor there.

Interesting to hear how southwest boards. I've never taken them before

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 1 continued.

We arrived at Pop Century around 8pm. Since we got the email our room when ready when we were still in Hartford, we didn't need to go to the front desk to check in! With magic bands on, we made our way back to the 90s! We ended up with a room on the first floor right in front of the pool! It ended up being an awesome spot with about a 5 minute walk to the busses and food. Surprisingly, I took zero pictures of our building


Once we got to our room we had two options; explore Disney Springs, or grab a quick bite at the food court and go for a swim. After debating for a few minutes, we ended up deciding Disney Springs will have better options for dinner. On the bus we went! The bus was very quick, we only waited a couple minutes for one to arrive.

Once we arrived at Disney Springs, we were in awe. It is beautiful. The new shops are wonderful and everything just looked so clean and new. Our originally plan was to eat outside at either Wolfgang puck express or earl or sandwitch. That's when mom decided to check the wait at T-Rex, just to see if we could get in. We were in luck! Only a 10 minute wait!



Our waiter was good, always making sure we had our drinks full and enjoyed everything. One word of advice, if going to a place like T Rex, try to take pictures after. We went to take pictures after ordering our meal and one of the bussers started cleaning our table! Our waiter stopped him though and explained where we were at.

Foof came out in about 30 minutes. I got a guacamole burger, Sam and Haley got a shrimp dish, mom got some chicken bean thing? All I know is we were all very hungry and there wasn't anything left on any of our plates!




We took a few more pictures around T-Rex before we left.



I don't even remember what we did at Disney Springs after. I think we were all in a food coma! Around 11pm we decided to call it a night and head back to the resort. Once again the bus was awesome. Waited maybe 10 minutes, and everyone had a seat. It was time for bed because we had a full day of magic kingdom fun ahead!

Coming up... The heat mixed with hunger can make for a hangry group; 65 minute wait for pooh but 30 for mine train? Are we in the twilight zone?

 

[WDW_Emily]

LOL at that stop sign just casually hanging out on the floor there.

Interesting to hear how southwest boards. I've never taken them before

The most helpful stop sign!

We love southwest! 2 free bags and great crew members! Boarding can be a little stressful though it's all based on when you check in for your flight.

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 2- Magic Kingdom

7:15am and our alarms were going off! It was time to get ready for the Magic Kingdom! Haley and I were up first. Showered, dressed and ready to hit the parks as Sam was just slowly getting out of bed . We finally got to breakfast around 8:30am. I had been wanting some Mickey waffles for the past week and I could not wait to get them! Turns out, pop only has pop waffles. The potatoe casserole that came with it made up for the non Mickey waffles though it was delicious! Mom had a pancake meal. Haley got banana bread, fruit and milk. Sam got an omelet.


After breakfast we went to the bus stop where they were sending busses every couple minutes for magic kingdom! Once again we didn't wait more than 10 minutes and got a seat. By 9:30am we were seeing this.



Our fast passes for the day were all in the afternoon. We had fast passes for Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Peter Pan. We figured we would start in Adventureland! What better way then to start the day with a ride on pirates?

Gotta love those snapchat filters!

The wait time for pirates was posted at 45 minutes at 10am. We expected this though, June crowds, no chance of rain, park had extra magic hours until 2am. Well, we got on the ride in 15 minutes! This continued to be the trend the entire day. Wait times were posted way higher and on average we waited 20-30 minutes for each attraction!

The park was beginning to get hot already. We didn't have a fast pass for splash and knew the wait was only going to get longer if we waited until later in the day. Into the Splash Mountin line we go! Wait time posted: 65 minutes. Actually wait time: 40 minutes.




Splash was great! All cooled off it was time to head to Tomorrowland!


By now it was 11:30 and we had an hour before our Space Mountian fast pass. We noticed chip and dale were meeting and had a very short line so we decided to meet them!

Still to come...who will get the highest score on Buzz Lightyear?

 

[disneygeek 2069]

Enjoying your trip report! So far sounds like a fun, plan as you go, trip.

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 2...Continued

After meeting chip and dale it was time for our space mountain fast pass! Line was posted at 50 minutes. With fast pass, we were through the queue in less than 10!



We were starting the get a little hungry so Haley and I went to one of the small stands in tommorland for a pretzel and some water to share. As we were finishing up paying, I went to put my card back into my wallet and the whole thing falls . I quickly picked everything up and we hurried over to buzz. I know not everyone likes buzz but we love it! Anything that is competitive and gives you bragging rights for beating everyone's score is A+ in our books! Wait time was posted at 40 minutes. Acual wait time 20 minutes!



As we are in the first room I hit one of the targets that was 100,000 points! I have no idea which one it was but yay! I was in the lead. As the game kept going I must have hit all the high point targets because then, for the first time ever I saw this:


Muhahahahaha such a successful day! I literally could not stop talking about it as I left the ride. So much that a cast member gave me a magical moment certificate.



Did you notice something funny in the last picture? No? Look at my sunglasses. Somehow they began to break! So I bought some cool Mickey sunglasses in the Tomorrowland gift shop (which broke last Friday while I was at work).

Anywho we were almost done with Tomorrowland! We had about an hour before festival of fantasy so we decided to take a break on the people mover!

While in line we had a little girl in front of us who stopped to tie her shoe. Sassy family behind us started getting all grumpy and told us to cut them. Well, that would just be more confusing because half of the little girls family had already moved up in line. I explained the girl was just tying her shoes and the woman said "I don't care it's holding up the line" some people are just so eager for that people mover!




Once we got off the people mover we were ready for festival of fantasy! We had just over a half an hour before it started. But then we hit the I need food now!!! It was around 2:30 and we hadn't eaten since 8:30. We ended up at cosmic rays. My mom and I got the kids nuggets which were actually pretty big. Haley got the adult nuggets. And Sam got some fruit and a side of green beans.

2:50 now, 10 minutes til festival of fantasy. Will we make it in time? Stay tuned!

 

[WDW_Emily]

Sorry for the long delay! Back to the Magic Kingdom!

We decided to go to frontierland to get a spot for festival of fantasy because it's usually less busy. However since we were picking a spot literally as the parade was starting, we were in direct sunlight. Beggers can't be choosers though. It ended up being an awesome spot too and we were next to some great families who sang with us the entire time.







After the parade it was time to go to fantasyland! We were ready for some AC so we went into philarmagic. After that we used our Peter Pan fastpasses and finally on its a small world. All this in under an hour!



The personalized goodbye on its a small world was a nice touch! I was the only one who had known about it so everyone else in our group was plesently surprised. They actually thought I did something to control it!

It was then time was our last fastpass, big thunder. We started getting the munchies. It was ice cream time!



We started making our way back to fantasyland to meet Winnie the Pooh, ride Winnie the Pooh, and ride Little Mermaid. We started out with meeting Winnie the Pooh because they were only out for 45 more minutes. The line was over an hour long, our longest wait of the day. But they are Haley's favorites so we waited. Bailey, the character attendant with them was great fun playing along with the characters and talking to guest which made the line a little more enjoyable.


Since pooh was right next door, we decided to ride the attraction next. This is when we became the chosen ones

We got about half way through the line when the ride broke down! Our first ride down of the trip. No worries though we got fast passes to return later. Onto little mermaid!



Coming up next... Our feet are getting tired so let's sit for an hour and people watch and the best view of fireworks EVER!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I've had that Guacamole burger at T-Rex, it is delicious!!!

 

[MinnieM123]

While looking at your photos of the People Mover, I was thinking about just how much I love that ride! As much as I enjoy the thrill rides in the various parks, the People Mover is definitely always something I have to ride whenever I go to MK!!

 

[WDW_Emily]

While looking at your photos of the People Mover, I was thinking about just how much I love that ride! As much as I enjoy the thrill rides in the various parks, the People Mover is definitely always something I have to ride whenever I go to MK!!

I love the people mover too! I don't know what it is but I always enjoy riding it.

I've had that Guacamole burger at T-Rex, it is delicious!!!

So good! One of my favorite burgers!

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 2 continued

After Little Mermaid out feet were starting to hurt. We decided it would be best to find a spot for the fireworks and just sit for a little bit. We ended up going to the Main Street railroad station. When we got up there, a good portion of it was blocked off because of some VIP guest, so we couldn't really see Main Street electrical (which was fine because we don't particularly enjoy this parade). We did get to see a little bit of it from the side though.




As Main Street electrical was ending, we realized we might not have a good view of wishes because of the VIPs. I decided to ask one of the cast members up there if we would be able to see the fireworks from where we were in the back. To our surprise the cast member responded with, "this group is actually about to leave if you stay right here, you can fill in their spot once they leave". When the ropes came down we were first in line and this is the view we had.

Doesn't get much better than that! I think pictures speak louder than words. Here are a few of our shots from wishes and celebrate the magic.











We truly lucked out with our spot! After wishes we had 3 more attractions to accomplish, Mine train, Pooh, and Haunted Mansion. We decided to start with pooh, then Haunted Mansion, then mine train. Our thoughts were that the later is was, the less of a line for mine train. First we went to pooh. With our fast pass we were on and off the ride within 15 minutes!

Then we went to haunted mansion. Again the wait was only 10 minutes! We met an awesome Cast Member, Hannah, who actually managed to hide behind us she when we turned around after the stretch room, she was right in our face! Gave us all a little spook and a good laugh at midnight.

Sam was now hitting her hangry point. After all it was midnight and we never had a dinner meal. We stopped by caseys for some hot dogs. Then we were back on track to mine train. Wait time posted 70 minutes . But the line didn't look bad at all. We decided to jump in line. Ended up only being 35 minutes until we were ready to ride!

We got off the ride and it was past 1am we were all ready for bed. But before we could leave, we needed some pixie dust to get us back to our hotel.




Until next time, goodnight Magic Kingdom!


Coming up next, Epcot and all the broken down rides!

 

[FlaggNL]

Guess you are as busy as I am to continue the TR Love it so far! Thanks for sharing and off course following along for the future updates!

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

Looks like fun!!


Assuming you bought the "want to get away" fare for SWA that has nothing to do with your place on boarding. On those fares your boarding number is based on how your check in. I've always checked in online/via app exactly 24 hours before hand and am usually in A boarding class.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

Enjoying your TR. I love the "girls" trip idea. What a great idea! You all got so much done in 1 day! Love it!

 

[WDW_Emily]

Looks like fun!!


Assuming you bought the "want to get away" fare for SWA that has nothing to do with your place on boarding. On those fares your boarding number is based on how your check in. I've always checked in online/via app exactly 24 hours before hand and am usually in A boarding class.

We did. The problem was my family isn't the most technology savvy people. I ended up checking myself in by the app and the rest in by my laptop. The way back was way more stressful as we were in Universal 24 hours before hand but more on that a little later!

Guess you are as busy as I am to continue the TR Love it so far! Thanks for sharing and off course following along for the future updates!

Glad you're enjoying! Updates coming this week!

Enjoying your TR. I love the "girls" trip idea. What a great idea! You all got so much done in 1 day! Love it!

This was our second girls trip, the first being April 2015. We love them!

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 3, EPCOT

We woke up around 7:30 and began to get ready for our day at Epcot! After a quick breakfast we were off to rope drop for Epcot!

We arrived at the park around 8:30. People were already in the park! We thought that was odd but we went with it. A few minutes later we found out Epcot had morning EMH . We were planning on staying for nighttime EMH but we must have missread the website! Oh well. Maybe the wait for Frozen wouldn't be too bad at 8:30am? We took a few pictures and we were on our way to Norway!


As we were walking into World Showcase, we noticed about 10 Cast Members at the enterence way. They kindly asked us how our day was and where we were planning on going. We responded by saying to the new Frozen Ride! That's when we found out the ride was down. No big deal we thought we would get on of the other big attractions out of the way. We told the cast member thank you well go ride Test Track instead. She then informed us that was down too . With a fastpass already for Spaceship Earth and Soarin, we decided to start the morning off slow and go to the seas.

This ended up being a great choice. Not many people were in the seas. We got to see the manatee being fed and scuba divers feeding and examining fish.




When we got out of the seas it was time for our first fastpass, Spaceship Earth. Mom doesn't ride this one because the backwards part makes her claustrophobic. Without a fast pass the wait was 45 minutes at 9:45am. Oh how I love the smell of Rome burning!




It was around 10:15 when we got off and it was hot. Time for a Starbucks break!



Haley and Mom enjoyed their Starbucks on a bench watching the Disney ducks eat scrapes on the ground. Sam and I drank our Starbucks in line for mission space. I absolutely hate this ride 80% of the time it makes me sick. Sam really likes it though and it's normally a ride my dad would ride with her. I told her I would go on only if we did less intense mode. She agreed and on we went. The people in the ride with us were a forgien couple who didn't speak English and kept looking at us like what in the world is going on? It was great.

Time for soarin fastpass! We were all excited about soarin around the world and we left the ride with mixed feelings. Things we loved, ended in Epcot, the beautiful scenes of elephants, the ocean, the Great Wall of china and so many more, the third theater. Things we missed THE SMELL OF ORANGES!!!! And some transitions were very predicable and became cheesy in our opinions. We would give it a 7.5/10 would ride again but not wait 250 minutes which is what the wait time was if we didn't have a fast pass.



Coming up... World showcase is empty?!?! And The curse of the broken down attractions continues.

 

[kimberlymautz]

Following along!

 

[WDW_Emily]

Day 3 continued

Going into world showcase, we knew we would not get through all of the countries because we had a fast pass to meet characters at 3:45. Our goal going in was to get to America, go to the character spot, then finish the rest of the countries. We started off in Canada.



Then to the uk where we met Mary Poppins. She was hidden in the back which made her line very short.


Onto France! Our first food stop! We all got some sort of sandwich and pastry combo that was all very tasty!



With full bellies we continued our trek to Morocco this is the first photo that truly shows just how empty world showcase was. We think it was due to many attractions being down, people were literally waiting in front of attractions for hours so they would be at the front of the line if the ride reopened.



Next up Japan! We love to spend time in the big gift shop and just looking around Japan.





Onto Sam's favorite America! Note how she wore all her patriotic stuff. So of course she made us do a photo shoot.




Now remember, we were supposed to stop the countries at America and go to our fast pass. We still had an hour before our fast pass was ready. So we continued on to Italy (which we took no pictures in for some reason) and then Germany!


Has anyone tried these?!?! We were very close to buying them.


Our last country before our fastpass we were able to do was China. If you haven't tried to dumplings in China you are missing out. They are great! There was also an exhibit for Shanghai Disneyland which was fun to look through.




Coming up... Mickey, Minnie and Goofy oh my!