Our POP surprise!!! (A Sept. 24-28. 2012 trip report)

Hello all, I posted a little over a month ago about my husband surprising me and my daughter with a trip to the World. What a great husband and dad!



Our trip took place Sept. 24-28, 2012, and we stayed at POP Century Resort. A couple warnings before we start off, I’m not the best photographer. I like to point and click most of the time and try to capture the moment the best I can, so these are in no way the best photos you will see of the world. Also, this is my first trip report and I tried to take some photos of things I like to see in TR ‘s that I read, but sometimes I forgot that was plan, but I remembered more so throughout the trip.



Cast of characters:


Rick (DH)
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April (DD)
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And me, Crystal
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Here is Rick’s packing list, with some April flare!
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Day 1: Plane, POP and EPCOT

4:30 AM!!!! Beep, beep, beep… ugh! The only thing that gets me motivated at that time is knowing we are off to Disney. April got up and was pretty excited. She chatted all the way to airport. She was a little grumpy when we got there, hunger hit her little tummy. After we made her eat some ultra expensive eggs (we didn’t take the time to find MD’s, silly us) she perked up in time to get on the plane. Right away she stops at the 3rd or 4th row and declares “I found us some seats”. LOL!



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After our arrival we got on the Magic Express where I took some horrid pictures. April enjoyed the video and cartoons on the way to Pop.
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As we pulled up to Pop I must say I was instantly impressed. The grounds were very nice. Check in was snap, and the CM gave me and April each a carnation, which I meant to take a picture of, but I forgot. They did sit in water by our sink through the length of our visit though. Our room was ready right away. We got a 50’s room facing the pool, just like we wanted. Again, I know the decorations on the grounds are larger than life, but I really liked them.
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After a quick stop in the room we opted to eat lunch at Everything Pop. Rick got a burger and fries, April got nuggets and I opted for chilli cheese fries (which I was not impressed with). April didn’t like her nuggets either, so I ate them, I thought they were pretty good. No complaints from Rick on his burger. I didn’t take food pictures at this meal. Ooops… I get better at that on the rest of the trip though.

We finally got to our first park… EPCOT!!!! (About an hour later then we hoped as became a trend for us most of the trip).

Our first stop was Soarin to see if any FP’s were available, they sure were, so grabbed some FP’s for an eight o’clock return, and hopped in line since it was about a 30 min wait. We met a lady in line who worked at MK at Peter Pan and Small World. She told us to drop her name the next evening if we were there since she was working and maybe she could get us on faster. Hmmm…
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April looooooved Soarin!!! She said the only part that she didn’t like was the fireworks at the end. Uh-oh! She hasn’t really liked fireworks since she was one. We have tried several times to take her to see fireworks and only once did she enjoy them. This trip…. No dice mom and dad. Not worth the agony and guilt.

Next up was Nemo.
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After we hit up Nemo it was time for a Popsicle break, and plan our next move. We decided to start our tour of World Showcase. We opted to start off in Mexico and went on Three Caballeros, we also stopped at the fountain for April to make some wishes. She takes her wish making very seriously. She took about 5 minutes for each penny she threw. (Note to self… only give her two pennies next time.) I’m pretty sure each wish involved something about becoming and mermaid and for her future daughter to become one too.
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Then… margarita time for me!! What a great idea. This might become a tradition for me, to get a marg before we start our Show Case tour and sip it while we walk. Our maybe I will try some of the other frozen alcoholic concoctions I’ve read so much about.
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After my marg purchase we stopped and let April bang on the drums. She made up song about being at EPCOT and Disney while she played.
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Then we stopped in Germany just in time to line up for Snow White. The line got cut off right after us. Snow White is also my husband's favorite princess.
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bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
After our brush with royalty we stopped in Japan to take some photos, and April declared that Japan was her favorite country because she liked the way the roofs and buildings looked.Love that kid!
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Rick decided to try an evening shot of the ball.
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At this point we realized we only had a couple hours left before the night show. So, we booked it to Space Ship Earth.April actually did enjoy it.Our pictures turned out cute, but Rick had the camera in his vehicle…
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After that we hit Sunshine Seasons for a quick bite. Rick had wanted to try this place since it has such good reviews.He got sushi, I got a turkey sandwich and April got the crustables kids meal. I don’t have any photos of these meals.. Sorry.. I do start taking some food pics, I swear!April chowed down, which made me super happy.Rick loved his sushi and I was NOT impressed with dry sandwich with some weird pepper dressing on it. Oh well… the brownie I got was good!

After our bite to eat we road Soarin.
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We decided to head out for some sleep. We had a big day in MK planned for the next day. April got a little distracted by the "diamond lights", and I'm glad I packed glow bracelets and glow sticks she enjoyed them at night and didn't ask for anything from the night carts. Yeah dollar store!!!
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And that was Day 1. I'd say we fit in a lot and had a great start.
 

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member
Awww what a guy!! Great surprise. I totally love your packing list with your girls twist! And i LOVE the lighting underfoot at Epcot. Great photos so far-looking forward to more!
 

myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady
Premium Member
What adorable pictures with Snow White!! And I am thinking I might go along with this margarita to walk the World Showcase idea that I've been seeing in some TR's lately, good idea! :D Can't wait to read more.
 

bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
Awesome first day! We were in Epcot the same day! Ahh I miss it so much, I wanna go back now!!!

Today I told my daughter I missed Disney World , she said she did too.

What adorable pictures with Snow White!! And I am thinking I might go along with this margarita to walk the World Showcase idea that I've been seeing in some TR's lately, good idea! :D Can't wait to read more.

The margarita to walk the Showcase was such a good idea. I was hesitant spending the $10 on it, but it was so worth it. I was totally relaxed and it made me calm down and enjoy just being there.

loving the report so far :)

Thanks, I'm glad it's a good read so far.
 

bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
Day 2: MK, Pool and MNSSHP

The plan waaas to get up at 6:30 a start getting ready so we could make rope drop, oops the alarm was set for 6:30pm. However, Rick did manage to roll out of bed at 7am, so we didn’t drop too far behind. We let April sleep right until I was almost ready to go, then we had to rouse her from her slumber. She is not a morning person! Neither am I, but with caffeine and a great natural supplement called New Mood, I did pretty well with these mornings.

April perked up enough to get dressed and crawl in the stroller and then we were off.

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(Yup, that's my reflection in the bus window, and Rick is next to me wearing his signature hat.)


We got to MK just as the good morning welcome was ending. Oh well. There is always next year’s trip to try and catch this.

We decided to get FP’s for the princess meet and greet. Which was a great idea because on the way April got to see this gal:
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Then we finally made it up main street, April was not having any walking, so I didn’t get any good holding hands up main street photo ops. Despite her being cranky we made it to the castle.
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I decided to let April take a couple castle pictures to see if her mood would change.
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Then a nice group of people came by and offered to take a family photo, we had to coax April to get up and smile, but she managed to.
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Finally we made April truly happy. We got in line for:
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Right away she said… that was fun, let’s do it again. Instead we went on Small World. She liked this too. The little dollies captivated her.

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Just as we were getting into rides it was time to head back up front to see the princesses. The meet and greet went well. April chit chatted and hugged and got autograph’s. Rapunzle even made sure to write April’s name inside the front cover of her autograph book, which I thought was cute.
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bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
Day 2 cont...
We picked up a Rapunzle Doll after the meet and greet, however as soon as we stepped out of the store and found her stroller she suddenly got really crabby and weepy. I don’t know why. My only guess was that she was hungry. We tried to cheer her up by stopping inside the Confections store off Main Street, nothing floated her boat, she said she didn’t want sweets. But I found something!
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While I was eating my treat, offering it to Rick and April the entire time (lucky me they didn’t want any), Rick decided he needed some food too, but he wanted some meat. So it was Casey’s Corner where we got Rick a loaded Chicago dog and April a plain hot dog, all with fries of course. Yummy greasy soggy fries, which I helped them eat. After eating April’s spirits lifted, although we had to coax her to eat most of it. With everyone full and spirits lifted we headed to Frontier Land to catch some mountains. This place is a mad house for parking a stroller, it gets so congested.

Thunder Mnt was first. April had to take Rapunzle on it, and started calling Rapunzle her baby and she informed me that made her Rapunzle’s grandmother, so I’m now a grandma. J
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Next was Splash. After much persuasion and realizing we had a raincoat for April, she finally agreed to go on. Rapunzle, of course, came with us under the raincoat, as she also joined us the next couple days on every ride and attraction.
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We decided we should head out to get some rest and take a dip in the pool before our big night. But along the way I was getting thirsty and decided to try this:
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OMG!!! Dole Whip float! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways! Holy cow was it good. The pineapple and orange ice cream melted perfectly into the juice. WOW! Just WOW! I admit I was skeptical as to whether or not I’d like this. Rick tried just the pineapple ice cream a couple years ago and said it wasn’t anything special, but wow am I glad I tried this out. Oh, and Rick got a coke float and April ate some vanilla ice cream. Wait… one more look…
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We were almost out the door, but stopped to see Pluto.
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Finally back at Pop we had a swim in the bowling pin pool and I took a few shots from our view on the third floor.
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We had a nice swim, it was refreshing and the pool was clean and sort of peaceful, and there weren’t a lot of people.

Then it was time to get ready for MNSSHP.
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Okay, obviously April is Ariel, I am supposed to be a goddess and Rick is a Ref. Let me say this, Rick picked this costume out a few weeks in advance. We didn’t know it, but apparently the previous night (Monday night football) there was a Green Bay/Seattle Game, that game! Where a replacement ref made a questionable call. We found out pretty quick, before we even got in line for the bus what happened the night before. Rick got comments all night long, starting in the bus line. “You a replacement ref?” “What kind of call was that last night?” He got good at his come backs. “I didn’t see the play” or “I’m a villain tonight.” You get the idea.

We got to MK. There were some really good costumes out there, and it was fun to see people really getting into it. I do like the fall/halloween decorations as well.
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Again April suddenly was not happy. I was thinking either tired, or food. But I did stop to get her this.
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It cheered her up for about 5 minutes. This thing was a pain in the butt all night long. (Note to self, if we are to buy a $10 balloon again that never leaves the room after you get it, get it on the way OUT of the park). A breeze suddenly started right as I bought the thing and it was in our faces and in people’s faces all night. Stupid balloon!

Okay, it was time to get grub going before the party officially started. So we stopped at Cosmic Rays. Rick had a burger and fries. April order a crustables and grapes and I got the half chicken.
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I was sort of bummed that she picked at this. She just was in a foul mood. I thought we had a home run on this since she gobbled it up the night before. So we saved it for later. Rick liked his burger, or course, and I enjoyed the chicken and potatoes. The green beans were sort of nasty though.
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ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
I'm laughing so much at this report. Loving it! Your little girl is so adorable and so reminds me of DS6 when he was younger and how things would cheer him up only momentarily. Just too funny reading about her moods throughout. :D
 

bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
More Day 2...
After Cosmic Ray's we fought a battle with trying to get April to nap in the stroller, this seemed to make her crankier and we eventually lost the battle somewhere near the liberty bell area. We decided to tell her if she ate her sandwich we could go on some rides and do some trick or treating. April was not impressed with trick or treating, frankly neither was I, what a zoo, and really I would’ve preferred spending my time watching the villain show or doing rides. To each their own though.

Anyway, the first ride we ended up hitting was Peter Pan. We did see Pam again, but she was unloading. The line wasn’t super long either, so I didn’t try dropping her name. We did said hello to her quickly on the way out.

We then headed to Tomorrow Land for Space Ranger Spin. Good times!
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Then we got a family photo of us in our costumes. Thanks to a nice CM.
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Then we hit Astro Orbitor. Let me just say I don’t do spin rides well. The carousel makes me nauseas, so this was not my favorite. But I had never been up there and April wanted all of us to go. The view was pretty cool. I also had a pretty good time be-bopping to the music at club 626 while waiting in line. April thought I was pretty funny.
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After this April decided she wanted to do the tea cups. That was all her and Rick. I sat that one out. I went through a trick or treat line with all three bags while I waited. Then a small group of young girls walked by and one stopped and asked if she could take her picture with me. I said yes. She thanked me and said I was “so pretty”. Thanks! After me she was stopping a bunch of people in costumes to do this. Another person in her party took a picture with me too. Interesting. They were having fun though, giggling the whole time.

When Rick and April were done with the ride we decided to check out the main stage, and ended up watching the villain show from an angle. Not the best seats, but we got to see the show and we weren’t in a cramped crowd. I took some horrid pictures here too!


We decided to stay put for Hallow Wishes. April was not pleased! As soon as she heard we were going to watch fireworks she pulled the top of the stroller down and retreated inside covering her ears, closing her eyes and whimpering. Great! She is so dramatic, but I still felt awful. She acted like that for a good ten minutes before the show and during. We also found we were in a terrible spot for fireworks. LOL! Rick kept saying “sure is a nice view of that tree”. (Note to self a side view of shows is okay, a side view with trees right in front not so great for fireworks.) Serves us right I guess for making April suffer I suppose. After that we decided if April didn’t want to see fireworks at Disney or anywhere else it wasn’t worth it to make her. Eventually she will come around on her own and it will be something we can enjoy with her when she gets older.


To make up for things Rick found her a soft Mickey Pretzel. She chowed on it, which made me happy since she didn’t eat much for dinner. Her mood changed after that. She was happy to be at Disney World again.
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We hopped in line to see if we could catch Merida before the parade, but it was a no go. She was already 15 minutes late and we didn’t have time to do both. April was very understanding about it and we promised to try again later.

Man was it packed to see the parade. I can see why people start lining up an hour early, but really between The Villans Show, Hallow Wishes and the earlier parade the area never seemed to clear out. We got lucky anyways and found a really good spot in Frontier Land back up against a fence; it was near that tunnel to Adventure Land with the bathrooms in it. While we were waiting we got some good family photos.
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The parade was really cute, and April loved. She was waving and calling out the character’s names. She really gets star struck with the characters. I was so happy watching her enjoy herself.
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Afterwards we finally hit up the Magic Carpets that April was dying to go on. I sat that one out and opted to go in another trick or treat line with all three bags while Rick and April rode it. We got bananas and some good chocolate on that round! We were going to try and ride Pirates after, but it was shut down for something. I never found out why.

After that we hightailed it to the exit to try and get home. On the way out April was chipper as ever. Spinning around, singing, etc. She stood up on a bench at one point and yelled out at the castle “How you doing castle? Having fun with the Villians tonight?” LOL! Again, love that kid!

It was a short wait for the bus, but we ended up standing, which April HATED. She was so tired, poor thing, but it was either try to get back and get some rest ASAP or wait longer for a bus. It was a good time holding onto the bar and to her at the same time. LOL! April cheered up a bit when I engaged her in conversation on the bus. We talked about what sort of animals sleep standing up. When we got back to the room we all crashed!

***Now, while it was cool to try out MNSSHP, I don't know if it was really worth the $$$ price tag. I'm glad we got to experience it, and we can now mark it off the to do list we have for The World. ***
 

bucklepants

Active Member
Original Poster
I'm laughing so much at this report. Loving it! Your little girl is so adorable and so reminds me of DS6 when he was younger and how things would cheer him up only momentarily. Just too funny reading about her moods throughout. :D

Thanks. Looking back reading is much more funny then when it was happening. We would get so frustrated with her and would'n't know what to do. It's hard to remember they are so little and it's overwhelming they probably don't even know what they want.
 

6laurac

Well-Known Member
Really appreciate your trip report. I love reading TR's from other parents with a small child since we will be taking our not quite 3 yr old for the first time next May. Plus I noticed you used your Mini City Stroller which I also have. Looks like April rode in hers fine and had a great time.

Thanks again for posting!!
 

ExtinctJenn

Well-Known Member
Thanks. Looking back reading is much more funny then when it was happening. We would get so frustrated with her and would'n't know what to do. It's hard to remember they are so little and it's overwhelming they probably don't even know what they want.
Oh yeah especially when your "plan" is to make them so happy with the trip and have it be everything they've ever dreamed of. When they get cranky it's hard to remember that to them, it's still everything they dreamed it'd be. Half the time if you bring it up a month later they'll deny being cranky at all on the trip! LOL!
 

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