Trip Report A Trip of Upgrades, Pixie Dust and Unfortunate Events

Just arrived home about 24 hours ago and should be cleaning the house and finishing up laundry but wanted to share some of the magic that was our trip. As the title indicates like anything in life, this trip was filled with wonderous moments and disappointments. And Here we go....

Friday September 13th: We pulled out of the driveway right around 1pm and I was miserable. My sinuses were giving me fits and causing me the worst tooth ache I think I have ever experienced. After 4 long hours at school, all I wanted to do was sleep. And that is exactly what I did. I slept for the first 3 hours of the trip. Thankfully, my daughter was of the same opinion and she slept about the same amount of time. By the time we woke up we were starving so we stopped at our usual (McDonald's) and ate. Stretched the legs and hopped back in. We made it all the way to Valdosta, Ga that night. We probably could have made it to Orlando but my husband wanted to stop to meet up with some guys he plays Zombies with on Playstation so stopped we did. Nice hotel. I went straight to sleep. My Daughter was wide open though so it didn't last long.

The next morning we got back on the road and once we hit I75, we stopped. Seriously drove maybe 5 miles in an hour. We later found out that a tractor trailer had lost its entire load on the Northbound side. They had it much worse than us heading south. Not much fun though.
Finally made it to Orlando around 1pm so we went to check in to our hotel.

A really nice room with views of Downtown Disney on the 16th floor and all for under a $100. Not bad. Too bad we didn't really get to enjoy it at all.

 

[Mollie_Minnie]

It is just too cute that your daughter wanted to buy a Mulan doll for Minnie! Love your trip report!

 

[Jessica Meier]

So after perusing Storybook Treats for a really long time (can we say air conditioning and the intoxicating smell of sugar everywhere????) we all agreed to brave the line at BOG. It wasn't horrible when we arrived, line ended at the gate. But it moved, slow. All in all I would say that we probably waited about 30 minutes in all. It wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't so dang hot. We were all getting sick from it.

 

[Jessica Meier]

We finally make it inside and Mom and Dad get taken one direction and we get taken another. I had received an email inviting me to FP+ a BOG reservation the day before, but couldn't find a time for this day. Really wish we had because then we wouldn't have all gotten heat exhaustion. My pictures inside don't do it justice. By far the best quick service lunch I have ever had. Not sure if I would wait that long again, but definitely do it once.

These guys cracked me up as we came in...I swear one of them farted.

@HouCuseChickie I took more pictures of lights. These were just amazing.

My Mom had the Ham sandwich, my dad had the braised pork. They brought my Mom the wrong thing. They were super nice about it. I guess they had problems at the ordering kiosks and so a CM ordered for them. Mom was pretty sure they put in the wrong thing. We had a hard time deleting stuff from ours when we changed our minds on a dessert when we found out Cadence didn't get a dessert with the kids meal. Carl and I both ordered the braised pork and it was super yummy. Cadence ordered the Pasta for kids. She didn't touch it. She ate the bread off my Mom's sandwich.

This bowl was a good 2-3 inches deep. A lot of food. And super yummy.

Here was Cadence's food that she didn't touch. My Dad tried it and said it was really pretty tasty.

And then the desserts....I didn't try the creme puff. They brought us two on accident so Carl and Cadence ate them.

Cadence also helped me eat this beauty...

This was by far the yummiest cupcake I have ever had. A little piece of heaven on earth. Light and moist and not sure what the filling was, but oh my goodness. Mouth is watering just thinking about it.

 

[coachwnh]

So after perusing Storybook Treats for a really long time (can we say air conditioning and the intoxicating smell of sugar everywhere????) we all agreed to brave the line at BOG. It wasn't horrible when we arrived, line ended at the gate. But it moved, slow. All in all I would say that we probably waited about 30 minutes in all. It wouldn't have been bad if it wasn't so dang hot. We were all getting sick from it.

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Great pictures of BOG!

 

[Jessica Meier]

Great pictures of BOG!

Thanks!

 

[coachwnh]

Thanks!

You're welcome. Getting hard to keep up with so many great TRs! Enjoying yours!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Loving the update Love the lights! So sweet about the Mulan doll. Also, w/BOG- my kids weren't fans of that macaroni either when we had it last Nov. Funny about the suits of armor - I recall Sammie saying one of them made a similar noise last year...we told her it was a really bad snore, but ya never know.

 

[ThatBrunette]

It is so easy to get overwhelmed at WDW. Excitement, sounds, smells, sights and 110deg weather can make anyone cry on Little Mermaid.

 

[Figgy1]

Thank you for the magical TR.

 

[littleroo]

Love it all!! Great pictures and details. Keep up the great work!!

 

[Jessica Meier]

Sorry about having been MIA for such a long time. Been a rough couple of weeks between sickness, 5 year old attitudes, self doubt and a little bit of depression. But I figure I need to remember the fun so back at it I go.

Continuing the post on Cadence's birthday day....

So after lunch we debated about what to do. We were all exhausted and to be quite frank a little irritated with one another. I suggested riding the railroad back out to the front of the park. My hubby nixed that idea and suggested we head to the front of the park and walk up Main Street and find a spot for the parade. He was determined to get to see Main Street I wold later find out. So we made our way through to our usual parade spot and on the way I took a few pics of course..

Thankful for a little reprieve I went into the Christmas Shoppe and picked out our customary ornament souvenir. It took a little longer than I had planned but the outcome was spectacular.

The ornament cost $30, but it will be a treasured memory for years to come and well worth it. While I was waiting their was a couple, obviously on their honeymoon. They wanted to get Minnie and Mickey bell ornaments personalized and asked how much it would cost. They guffawed at how expensive and promptly left. I thought to myself, they just missed out. They don't know how they would pull them out every year and remember that trip with such happy memories as they hung them on the tree. Alas, it is not for everyone I guess.

While I was shopping the rest of the gang had camped out in our favorite spots to watch the parade. My husband had met some great people from our hometown and started up a conversation. They were there with their kids and grandbabies. Always so awesome how small the world really is. Just a few shots of the pre-parade before my camera died.

These pre-parade were taken by Cadence. Not bad for a 5 year old. Just have to work on composition a little.

 

[Jessica Meier]

When the parade was over we all needed a break from the heat and one another. I think the adults were disappointed (my Mom and I had planned so many things for today to make it uber special for Cadence and although we had fun, it wasn't as awesome as we had anticipated.) and Cadence was being overcome by what we would later determine to be a full blown bacterial sinus infection. More on that later though I promise.

So we head back to the Contemporary. On the way there I received a reply to a text that I had sent to the personal shopper I had used. She would not be delivering the gift that I had paid for until the next day. Something about an emergency had come up and they had no car to make the delivery with. I was livid! This was my daughter's birthday gift! I had paid a lot of money to have this woman deliver stuff to our hotel. UGH!!!!!! So add another disappointment to what was supposed to be a spectacular day. I look back on it now and my daughter was none the wiser and she was happy as she could be for not feeling to well. But at the time it was a huge disappointment. My husband took my phone and started texting and calling as soon as we made it back to the hotel.

We tried to lay down and rest and just chill. My mood was not the best and I was trying not to show it. Cadence was sleepy and exhausted from the heat but refused to nap. We received a message on our room phone saying we had a delivery ready from food services. I was a little confused at first. We had also received a message saying that we had full access to the concierge level and all the free food and drink available there. So, I was thinking surely this is a mistake. Then I remembered! It was her birthday cake! I had wanted the whole family there when it was delivered but my Mom and Dad were pooped and I think they knew we needed just our family time. So they declined to come down before it was delivered. I have to say it was a good distance from the main building to where we were at. Our room was on the farthest side away from the main building and took a good 10 minutes or so to make it over there. Pros and Cons. I loved the room and was super thankful for the upgrade, but the main reason we chose the Contemporary was the close proximity to everything and it took away from that. But for this trip and the sickness that was to come, this room could not have been more perfect. We had space to spread out and that is a necessity when locked in a hotel room when all you want to be doing is out in the parks.

Finally we heard a knock at our door....and this beauty arrived...

We called Cadence out and she was in shock and awe...she wouldn't let me take her picture with it and after a ton of prodding I finally got one.

We didn't cut into the cake until the next day (I know sacriledge!) but she was not ready for cake. In fact, she didn't ever take a bite of it. It was unbelievably yummy and moist. I would HIGHLY recommend the chocolate caramel mousse and buttercream combo. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!! My husband and I ate half the cake. I debated about bringing home the pieces of art that were the cherry blossoms (sugar not plastic) and the Mulan chocolate 2d image, but I couldn't figure out how to pack it so figured these pictures would just have to do.

 

[jlsHouston]

Love your trip report! Your room is gorgeous. Somehow I keep coming across pics and descriptions CR and I so want to experience that resort.

 

[Jessica Meier]

Love your trip report! Your room is gorgeous. Somehow I keep coming across pics and descriptions CR and I so want to experience that resort.

It is definitely a resort I think everyone should try once. It is worth the wait of saving up the money for it. I am debating now, do we go back or try a new resort for our next trip. I have two years to decide probably so lots of time to pour over trip reports and pictures to decide.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm sorry things have been rough of late. I swear...this fall has just been a headache for so many.

I know all was good in the end, but I can't believe the personal shopper bailed on her birthday. I understand things happen, but I can see why you'd be so angry. I think the cake turned out really nicely and I'm glad the flavor combo was a winner. Getting sick on vacay is never fun, but glad the room upgrade worked out to your advantage in this situation. I also think I have an idea where the room was...certainly more of a walk than other areas. We were facing a courtyard on the pool area side when we stayed in the garden wing, so it wasn't an issue...but you just never know with these things.

 

[Jessica Meier]

So after the cake arrived, my Mom and Dad showed up and we sat around for awhile and talked and they played with some of Cadence's toys and then they left so she would rest. We got her in bed and she passed out around 7 or so 7:30. I stayed awake thinking of all the things I had wanted to do that evening. My tooth was bothering me and it was hard to sleep. Then the electrical parade started and I listened to it twice and finally fell asleep around midnight I think. We wound up not waking up super early on Tuesday b/c we just had lunch and dinner ADRs since it was our Epcot day. We woke up and let Cadence kind of figure out how she was feeling and what she was up for. We went up to the concierge level and ate a nice light breakfast and Cadence and Carl found out it was definitely not a good idea to try to feed the birds off the balconies up there. It was reminiscient of a scene from the Hitchcock movie "Birds". The views are undeniably amazing! Here are my pics from that morning...

 

[Jessica Meier]

I'm sorry things have been rough of late. I swear...this fall has just been a headache for so many.

I know all was good in the end, but I can't believe the personal shopper bailed on her birthday. I understand things happen, but I can see why you'd be so angry. I think the cake turned out really nicely and I'm glad the flavor combo was a winner. Getting sick on vacay is never fun, but glad the room upgrade worked out to your advantage in this situation. I also think I have an idea where the room was...certainly more of a walk than other areas. We were facing a courtyard on the pool area side when we stayed in the garden wing, so it wasn't an issue...but you just never know with these things.

Thanks...what I have been going through is in no way as horrible as what you have been dealing with. I just tend to get a little down and go through bouts of this type of thing and sometimes it takes me longer to pull out of them than I would like.

I was happy with the cake. For what we paid ($80 with tax and tip) it was a success. Thank you so much for all your help and advice on it. If we stay at the Contemporary again we will do another. Definitely so much yummier than the frozen cake experience at CRT.

The room was such a blessing and we really wished we had more time. It makes you think about really taking your time and staying for longer so you can really enjoy EVERYTHING at the parks and resorts. We never did get to go to the beach or the pool. Another 3 or 4 days would have been nice so we could have recouped from the sickness and done a little more exploring.

 

[Jessica Meier]

So after breakfast we headed on out to our destination of the day: Epcot! We love Epcot and I think if we stayed in this park every day my husband would agree to go to WDW more. Since we weren't sure how well Cadence would hold up for a full day of parks and we were supposed to head to MNSSHP that evening we didn't want to overdo it. She seemed excited, although it was mostly from the promise of getting to meet Mulan!

We had a couple of must dos before we were to meet up with the Grandparents who were feeling the effects of 5 days at the parks (my Dad was having back issues pretty bad). So we headed off to meet the Fab Five since we had not accomplished this yet. First a shot we always have to take..

I am not sure why, but you couldn't meet with Goofy inside. We did on our last trip and Donald was no where to be found. We would find him later on that day in Mexico. So off we went to stand in line to meet with Goofy and Carl left to meet up with my parents as they were now on the monorail headed over to Epcot.

 

[Jessica Meier]

So after about a 20 minute wait we finally got to meet up with Goofy. It was well worth it for these pictures.

 

[Jessica Meier]

Goofy really is probably one of my faves. I called my husband "Goofy" all the time when we were first dating and he even went out and bought a cell phone case with Goofy on it. So, the big lug has a special place in my heart. He interacted so well with Cadence and took a lot of time with everyone despite the long lines. We were the last ones before his break but he didn't rush us or anything. Really awesome.

So we were done and the first meet and greet for Mulan was fast approaching and so was our lunch reservation at Le Chefs. And my parents still had not arrived. My mom finally showed up as we were booking it to the World Showcase to be first in line to meet Mulan. She had left my Dad in the dust so she wouldn't miss out on Cadence meeting Mulan. Poor Daddy had tummy issues on top of his back bothering him. So off we went! I managed to get one pretty picture in..

We arrived just in time to meet up with Mulan....this was so magical. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves...

They had an awesome conversation. Mulan asked Cadence if she had been on many adventures and was a warrior like her. Cadence told her she had been studying the moves of her favorite Ninja Turtle Michaelangelo and was becoming a strong warrior and even showed her some "hee ya!" moves. Mulan about fell over trying hard not to laugh. She signed Cadence's Mulan doll and we showed her pictures of Cadence's birthday cake. The CM with her and Mulan were in awe of the cake and all in all we had one happy little girl. She got to meet her favorite princess and show her her ninja moves. I was really surprised there was not a Photo pass photographer. Mulan gets no love I guess. Surprising, because when we came back by later in the day the long to meet with her was probably a good 40 to 50 people deep. Crazy! Goodbye Mulan! We will see you soon!