A long time ago (ok, not too long..) in a land 1,164 miles from Chicago and 1,007 miles from Philly

Aloha everyone!

For those of you who don’t know me my name’s Rachel (19). Blackhawks fanatic, volleyball player, and Disney enthusiast! I am constantly on the boards creeping on everyone else’s trip reports because I love to reminisce and also hear about how magical other people’s trips are. I did start a TR last summer when my 3 best friends and I took a trip in June ’12, but unfortunately with college and stuff I have not finished it If you would like you can read the first half of it here http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...e-a-bobby-pin-”-june-2012-trip-report.840226/

So my very latest trip took place back in January. January 2nd-8th to be exact I went with my best friend, aka my mommy! Here is a picture of us from the lovely Brookfield Zoo in Chicago during my spring break.


IMG_3329 by LeCellierLover, on Flickr

So if I didn’t finish my last TR you’re all probably wondering “Why the heck is she starting another one, especially if it’s all the way back from January?!” Well.. it’s because chances are I won’t be taking a trip to the World this summer (I’ve been going every summer since Kindergarden! ) because I want to buy a car to bring with me to school in the fall, so that’s pretty costly.. and it seems like everyone I know is going to the World this summer, so I just want to reminisce all of the good times. AND my Blackhawks are down 3-2 in the series against the Detroit Fairy Wings, and even though I’m very hopeful and confident in my boys, I need something to do to keep my mind off of that series for a little bit

Enough chit-chat.. Are we ready?! Alright then, ON WITH THE SHOW!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

A peek inside the 7 dwarves mine train. I can’t even imagine what it looks like now!









Such cute signs, that changed depending what ride you were near, that covered the walls up around the new ride in progress!



Time to go visit Dumbo and see what he was up to! I was lucky enough to see this land at night last June, but I was excited to see it during the daytime!



This was the wall that seemed to never be open when we wanted to get from Ariel to Dumbo, but it was always open when we didn’t need to get access between the two..






Time to ride!



The little play area was cute, but we didn’t have to wait inside until later on in the trip










I LOVE how they revamped this area! I remember when it was Mickey’s Toontown Fair with the small, tiny “Pete’s” bathroom area. I must say Holy Moly those new bathrooms are huge and so nice! This area definitely needed it and although I was very sad to see MTF go, they did an amazing job with the new Storybook Circus stuff! See, I told ya, I always trust Disney imagineering!



The characters hardly had any wait so we got in line for Goofy and Donald. I wish we could have seen Minnie and Daisy, but of course we would’ve had to go allll the way back around so we only saw the two. *WARNING* the lighting in this area was bad so sorry if we scare you guys a little bit..



My dad thought I was trying to flex in this picture.. No dad my hand was just on my hip and my jacket covered it! haha

 

[acrab3t]

You were there the same time we were! Loving this!

 

[mousefreak]

Magic Kingdom is beautiful on a foggy morning! The castle looks very mystical. Some great pictures, too.

 

[aRiv]

Can't wait to see more

 

[Sandurz]

Only having visited for a late dinner I never got to see this little detail..is it off to the side of the main entrance? Where do the steps "go"?

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

You were there the same time we were! Loving this!

Really?! It was a pretty good time to go (besides having to leave for school at the end..)! Haha
Thanks for reading!

Magic Kingdom is beautiful on a foggy morning! The castle looks very mystical. Some great pictures, too.

It really is! I don't even remember it being that gloomy until I looked at the pictures it was that pretty! Thank you! Amazing what the iPhone can do!

Can't wait to see more

Yayay glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for reading!

Only having visited for a late dinner I never got to see this little detail..is it off to the side of the main entrance? Where do the steps "go"?

If I can remember correctly, the gate (if you're standing looking at the main doors) was located on the left hand side. It was right outside of the door that you walk out when you walk past the pretty tiling of Belle and the prince. I'm not sure where the steps go up to?! GOOD QUESTION!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

AAHH MY BLACKHAWKS JUST WON! WE'RE GOING TO THE WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS!!!!!!! Told ya we had faith in our boys!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

And since the Hawks won I’m now on an adrenaline rush so I can start writing more TR!

This was a picture that I posted to Instagram from way up high in the sky as we soared with Dumbo!



Just havin’ a little fun with the mirrors in the big top gift shop



Then we went over to go say hi to Pooh and Friends. This is one of my favorite rides (even though they’re pretty much all my favorites!) because I love the “hopping” and “flooding” sensations!



My favorite character is Eeyore! I guess I just think his gloominess is so cute? I tried to spread some cheer and smiles at his house to brighten his day



Silly gophers..






After “the rain cleared away and everyone came out to say.. HOORAY!” we walked back into the heart of Fantasyland and saw this little show going on. The performers had marched to their spot, said a few words, then made everyone start busting out their best dance moves! They caught most people who didn’t dance, but luckily my mom and I got to kind of stand off by the side and just watch, laugh and enjoy! It was a very fast little performance, but it was very cute!






It was then time to start making our way out of the park because we had a breakfast with Mickey and pals to go to!
On our way out we saw the Main Street show going on and as always, I loved it! The performers were very cute in their Christmas themed costumes. We were right up front so as the trolley would move people would look at us as we rounded out the show, but I was like “Sorry people.. we don’t work for Disney .. YET!” haha






The sorcerers were out in full force that day!

 

[Sandurz]

Patiently awaiting the continuation of this tale!

 

[foreverbelle]

Wahoo I found yours! Funny I was wondering what happened to the last TR! Now I know. OK that shower, yeah pretty amazing I mean how could you resist singing!! In fact I am pretty sure they are encouraging you to sing in the shower. I know I would the entire time...lol...love it.

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Patiently awaiting the continuation of this tale!

Thank you for keeping me on my toes and getting me back into the swing of updating, seriously!

Wahoo I found yours! Funny I was wondering what happened to the last TR! Now I know. OK that shower, yeah pretty amazing I mean how could you resist singing!! In fact I am pretty sure they are encouraging you to sing in the shower. I know I would the entire time...lol...love it.

Yeeaah that last TR didn't turn out so well..
OMG I said the exact same thing! I was like "THIS is the definition of singing in the shower!" Haha! I'm loving your trip report!!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Alright so to be honest I haven’t updated in a few days because I still had pictures from the trip on my mom’s phone that I needed to transfer to use in this TR!
So where did I leave off? Oo yess we were out of Magic Kingdom and on our way to have breakfast with the Main Mouse himself!



After we checked in we sat by the window and watched as the clouds rolled in. Luckily they were just clouds and they didn’t bring any bad rain storms along with them!



Last time we went to Chef Mickey’s it was my whole family and the food was exceptional (I don’t know why, but the food just tasted really good that day? haha), but it was kind of overshadowed by the horrible service. This time the food was pretty good and our service was just right! Nothing too amazing that stands out in my mind right now, except for the Mickey waffles of course, but it made our tummies happy and the characters were nice to see!


















So after our yummy breakfast we did a little shopping in the two gift shops on the main floor of the Contemporary. I got a pair of sparkly Minnie ears that I had had my eyes on since seeing them in Magic Kingdom and on various girls throughout the trip already and my mom thought that they were very cute! In the next gift shop my mom let me get (I know I still sound like a little kid right? But it’s a bonus for me when my mom likes the gift just as much as myself, which usually happens often. And she also always has that mom instinct that knows when I'll never use something again, but since I really wanted this and she said yes I was happy haha) a mini volleyball with Mickey on it! I was having volleyball withdrawals since this was the first time since I was in 5th grade and I started volleyball that I had an off season. Soo let’s just say I was wanting to get my hands back on a volleyball and it had Mickey Mouse on it, WHAT COULD BE BETTER?!

The snap chat I sent to everyone showing them my new souvenirs

Once we walked back to our car (of course hitting the new volleyball back and forth on the way) we decided that we would go hit up EPCOT since we had not been there yet. O how I love having a rental car and being able to just get in the car and GO wherever instead of having to go find a bus that would hopefully take us to our destination haha.

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

We decided to take things slow just like always. We headed over to Journey Into Imagination With Figment because we figured that ride is always like a ghost town. AM I RIGHT?!

WRONG! I have never ever, in my 20+ trips to the World, seen a line for Figment that was this long let alone even a line! It was practically almost out the door! The line went pretty fast though. We also had a family behind us with 2 little boys and the one (older) boy was afraid to ride. I guess his parents tricked him into going on RnRC earlier and he was afraid that this ride was going to be fast and have loops too. We overheard his parents trying to convince him that he would be fine so we felt like we had to intervene I told him (not that he even listened to me) that my parents did the exact same thing to me when I was little. Yep, they wanted me to go through the queue with them then told me that I could just take the chicken exit before I got on, but then once we went to board and I asked them for the exit they told me there wasn’t one! Then they said I could get the “Tour Guide Mickey” that I wanted oo soo badly if I went on (told you my mom was good at knowing what I would and wouldn’t use! Plus the little talking guy was $60!) but I ended up settling for a “Backstage Pass” lanyard that said “Rachel”. I still have the little today as a wonderful reminder of that day! ANYWAYS we told the little boy he would be completely fine! We saw them right after the ride and asked how it went and he said he loved it and his parents were very thankful for our advice!












Then it was on to find Chico.... Elmo.... I MEAN NEMO!



After our sing-along in the big blue world it was time to go enjoy some cool refreshments! I think this Fanta may be my favorite, but I can’t remember now..



We passed the Agent P game back in Future World, but we were told that “Perry wasn’t recruiting at that spot at the time, but he might be in one of the other countries!”. I think the CMs got offended when we asked them how that happens that they were open and had cell phones, but there was nothing available. We honestly weren’t trying to start a fight we were just actually curious. After much discussion and us making sure they knew that we weren’t mad we made our way over to Norway to pick up another “high-tech secret agent device”.



I could seriously spend alllll day around this beautiful lagoon!



While in Norway we stopped inside the shops. I saw this and just had to take a picture and send it to some college friends *DON’T WORRY NO ALCOHOL WAS CONSUMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PHOTO!*



We did enjoy helping Agent P out, but while on the mission it seemed that a lot of people were right ahead of us so we would have to wait for some and then we would see what was going to happen in the process. Sometimes the explanations seemed to go on for awhile, but that was probably just use wanting to be done and exploring more of World Showcase. It was a fun little thing to do, but when asked if we wanted to save another country we kindly pressed “No” and returned it to the chest in Norway.

Continuing on to Germany we saw a cute little princess meet her idol.



Once we made it the bridge by France we decided to take a detour and after going down a few steps we found this wonderful little quiet spot. We sat there for awhile just taking everything in and enjoying the wonderful time that we were having there together!



Mandatory UK telephone booth picture

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

After our walk around the world we decided to hop on the monorail and then hop on the resort monorail to take us back to the Contemporary to grab our car. While on the second monorail we saw these turkeys(?) by the Polynesian just chillin’.


Cool side story.. I took this picture because I saw this cool car outside of the wedding pavilion. Later on I posted it to Instagram and I think “hashtaged” Disney Weddings or something like that. A few hours later I got a response to the picture from a girl saying “OMG! That’s my wedding!” It was pretty awesome to think that I caught this moment that no one else from her wedding did! She was so thankful that I snapped this picture and thought it was so cool to see the whole thing from a different view! I thought that was just the coolest thing ever that she found my picture! Disney bride if you’re out there I just want to let you know that this made me so happy! What a small world after all


Then I took some now old photos of the GF DVC as we passed by!









I was obsessed with my shoes that I didn’t even know were glow-in-the-dark until the beginning of this trip!



So we went back to the resort for some down time. My mom ended up taking a nap and I went out for a run around the lake. I still had to try and be in shape for the start of our off season workouts that came at the end of this vacation.. The path that’s set up is very nice. Once I got to the “less traveled” part I looked to my right and saw this beautiful view of both resorts together, it almost made me stop running because I just wanted to stare!


After my run I snapped a picture of my new volleyball! Sent a picture to the roomie to let her know that I had added to the collection since we already had a regular sized volleyball, soccer ball, and a mini bouncy ball (that I gotten in trouble with the RA before for throwing around and making noise) back in our room at school.

 

[Sandurz]

Thank you for keeping me on my toes and getting me back into the swing of updating, seriously!

Lol good I didn't want to sound bossy...I'm just hooked on the report!

I was in that line at a similar time that day (similarly stuck behind some grumpy youngins) and was (similarly) shocked to see how long it was. But every other trip to the Imagination Institute that week was a walk on.

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Lol good I didn't want to sound bossy...I'm just hooked on the report!





I was in that line at a similar time that day (similarly stuck behind some grumpy youngins) and was (similarly) shocked to see how long it was. But every other trip to the Imagination Institute that week was a walk on.

Aww I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it!

Whoa that's so weird! What if you were photobombing one of my pictures?! That would've been funny haha! Yeah it's always been a walk on for us, but I liked to see that Figment was getting some love!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Alright time for an update while the Blackhawks are in an intermission!

So after my mom took a nap and I went for a nice run we got all freshened up and decided to head out for the night. Our first stop was Animal Kingdom because it was open until (I think) 8pm that night. I had always wanted to see Everest at night!










When we walked in my mom went straight to the time board while I fell behind and took pictures. Once I got to the board she was talking to a CM. She then turned to me and said “Aww darnit Everest is down right now! “. I was upset for like 2.4 seconds because I had always wanted to ride it at night, but it was really no biggie. We then looked at the CMs name tag and saw that he was from Lockport, IL which is a town right by us! So we ended up having a nice talk with him for some time and he discussed how he goes to Illinois State and he first started with Disney in the College Program (highly recommended it!) then Disney asked him to come back seasonally! He actually only had a few days left because he had to return to Illinois for school since he was only on winter break. We both complained about having to leave the mouse and go back to college soon.. Then as we started to leave he said “Wait right here just a minute!” He went behind the boards and came out with one of these!

Thanks Tim for treating us to free Mickey bars for the night!


After our fun CM experience we decided we wanted to get scared out of our wits by some dinos!



So we like to get creative with our ride photos sometimes. I told my mom we should “gasp and point the opposite way of the dinosaur!” When we got off the ride and saw the picture I started cracking up when I saw my mom’s reaction.. I said “Mom why are you looking TOWARDS the dino?!” and she said “I thought you said to gasp and point at him?!” Silly mommy..





I love this ride, but my mom’s not a big fan of the spinning so we kept walking



Oo I see Everest lurking! And now that I think back to it I can't remember if Everest reopened or not? I'm not thinking so because we didn't ride it?! There were ride vehicles stopped on the hill going up though..



I thought the pictures looked good on my phone, but now they just look too dark.. O well ya can’t win em all! haha Someday I hope to have a “good camera” with me so I can take night time shots on a tripod!

 

[WLBound]

I love the nighttime shots of AK. We've only been there during the day so it's great to see what it looks like after dark.

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

I love the nighttime shots of AK. We've only been there during the day so it's great to see what it looks like after dark.

Thanks! If you ever get the chance to experience AK at night definitely do it, it's beautiful! Things always have an extra magical feel to them at night haha! Thanks for reading!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

After we took a nighttime stroll around the park we figured we should cash in our free ice cream bars coupon before it got too late! *Cue the angels hymns again!* haha



Soo happy



Once we were done in Animal Kingdom we decided to head over to Magic Kingdom because it was open til 12am (I think ).



We were pretty hungry and wanted some dinner so we decided on Pecos Bills We were extra hungry that night so we both got the burgers with the onions rings and barbecue sauce on them (with some added mushrooms and chopped onions from the wonderful toppings bar). Holy moly was this burger delicious! The onion ring was a bit too big so I ended up taking it off and just putting on the chopped onions and kind of munched on the ring haha. We went for the healthy alternative dessert and got strawberry/banana yogurt.



I almost forgot what we did next and I was about to just say that we mostly walked around and took in the sights and sounds of the park! THANK GOODNESS I DIDN’T! I had left my phone in the car that night so I could avoid reality drama. So all of our photos from that night were on my mom’s phone (which I just transferred to my computer ). This night was one of the best nights! Why? you may ask.. well it’s because we finally saw Enchanted Tales with Belle!





The wait time was listed at 40 minutes, but we decided to head in anyways. The wait did not seem as long as 40 minutes, but when we got out we were just so awestruck by what we had just experienced that we did not mind the wait AT ALL! My mom had talked about it so much, but I couldn’t really grasp why the show was so amazing? I DEFINITELY do now though!



Now if you have not heard about Enchanted Tales and would like to keep what happens a secret until you see it in person than I would cover your eyes for these next couple of pictures!
I have to say I was jumping up and down like a little girl while we were in Maurice’s shop! I was not expecting that mirror to transform and open at all! HOW DO THEY DO THAT?! I don’t even want to know, but I just cannot say enough times how mesmerized I was by this special effect!



Then next came the talking wardrobe that my mom mentioned was something she had been waiting to see!



You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, this show was already amazing and we hadn’t even seen Belle yet!



Then we went in an saw Lumiere and I just about wanted to go up and steal him he was SO COOL!



THEN the moment of truth! The doors to the right of us whipped open and out came the most gorgeous Belle I’ve ever seen! I turned to my mom and in a little kid voice was like “Aww mommy she’s so preettyyy!” I felt like a little girl again!






Alright I’m sorry, but I have to do a quick recap about what I had just experienced.. Soo I LOVE ENCHANTED TALES WITH BELLE! If the line isn’t too long definitely wait! The magic mirror is amazing, the talking wardrobe is awesome, the interactive storytelling is so entertaining, the pretty Belle made the experience even more realistic, the talking Lumiere was fantastic and all in all I hadn’t been so wowed over a show in awhile as I was that night! This is why I loved not knowing what was all included in the New Fantasyland when I experienced it because I truly felt like a little kid again and loved every minute of it because everything was so new! Needless to say I will never forget this magical night!










When we got back to the room I was so tired that I accidentally tried to open our door with our Photopass card instead of my room key.. LOVE the new doors btw!