Hi everyone,
My husband and I left one week ago for our first Adventures by Disney trip and I thought it was worth my first trip report as well!
Who? My husband Mike and I (and everyone else on the adventure)
When? July 10-17, 2019
Where? Arizona and Utah
Why? We've been married for 10 years this year. Yeehaw!
Day 1:
Rise and shine, it's 4:00am!
Due to the mid week start, we decided not to fly out a day early, but instead to catch an early morning flight, to make sure we had plenty of time before our departure. Our flight (along with several others) did get delayed.
As we approached the baggage claim, we noticed someone holding the Adventures by Disneysign Paddle of Power.* She asked if we were Mike and Elizabeth, escorted us to baggage claim and then showed us where we would be leaving with the rest of the group. We had some extra time and were able leave our bags for them to magically show up in our hotel room later. While we only checked two bags, we were given extra luggage tags in case we wanted to check more later. We officially were allowed two luggage tags per person, for anyone wondering. For this itinerary, one carry on and one checked sized luggage per person is requested.
After grabbing a bite to eat, the time came to meet up with the group. After meeting our Adventure guides, we were lead to the bus. One of the many wonderful things about ABD is that the guides are constantly taking pictures, so I now have this picture of me (accidentally blocking Mike) getting onto the bus.
Our Adventure guides were Doug and Diana by the way. As we started the drive towards our resort, they told us about how the scenery was going to change several times over the course of our trip. They mentioned the Saguaro Cactus, and may I just say, learning about a plant has never been so much fun! They pulled over to the side of the road for us to get pictures because they are memorably large. We listened to a song and even got to try cactus candy. It was a hit! While I've had it before, many of us, including my husband hadn't and loved it. Only a picture of the cactus here, because the wind was not being my friend...
We also stopped at Montezuma's Castle. We sat under a covered area and learned about how inaccurately it was named, along with other interesting facts. A few stragglers stopped to listen in. I probably would have too!
Most of us had been arrived early in the morning and were pretty tired by the time we arrived to Enchantment Resort. Doug told us that while Enchantment Resort was the fanciest, (with the best internet and cell service) Red Cliff's Lodge was often the favorite. This was helpful and intriguing to know.
We had a private check in area, and were then driven to our rooms by “Golf Cart ninjas.” Enchantment Resort is pretty big, so it was nice to have a fast and fun transportation service. (After we got our bearings, I would say we used the golf cart ninjas vs walking about 50/50) Our bags, along with an additional welcome gift, were waiting in our room. The room was playing relaxing music that we enjoyed so much, we also listened to in the mornings while we were getting ready. I immediately gushed over the shower and bath tub, and made a mental note that I would get a relaxing bath in at some point!
When we arrived for the “mixer” part before dinner, we came to a table filled with name lanyards, and were asked to pick someone else’s up to meet. We enjoyed chips, queso, and beer or wine during this time. My husband went for the chips and queso. I went for the wine. We all found the correct names and met our new adventuring friends.
There was a Mike and Michael. A small bit of confusion ensued until they found each other lol
Dinner was served buffet style after a welcome from our Adventure Guides. Wine and beer were also serve yourself, which apparently isn’t always the case. No one questioned it. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Everything was so delicious, we forgot to get a picture until dessert. The s’mores bite was fun and tasty, but I was too full for my other treats. I kept the cookie sandwich for a later snack, and found out from others the pink cupcake was actually carrot cake. This feels a little like false advertising to me, but I heard it was tasty!
We were welcomed towards the end of our dinner with Native American flute music performed by Eldred. It was really lovely and I was able to go ask questions after and learned about how each item he brought with him was made. This was a bow from his grandfather.
When we got back to our room, I took my relaxing bath, and we fell into a deep sleep ready to wake up to adventure!
*The Paddle of Power is the name for the adorable sign our adventure guides held that got us into exclusive experiences and ensured we didn't wait for anything. We could also get pictures with it, because fun! It will show up future posts.
My husband and I left one week ago for our first Adventures by Disney trip and I thought it was worth my first trip report as well!
Who? My husband Mike and I (and everyone else on the adventure)
When? July 10-17, 2019
Where? Arizona and Utah
Why? We've been married for 10 years this year. Yeehaw!
Day 1:
Rise and shine, it's 4:00am!
Due to the mid week start, we decided not to fly out a day early, but instead to catch an early morning flight, to make sure we had plenty of time before our departure. Our flight (along with several others) did get delayed.
As we approached the baggage claim, we noticed someone holding the Adventures by Disney
After grabbing a bite to eat, the time came to meet up with the group. After meeting our Adventure guides, we were lead to the bus. One of the many wonderful things about ABD is that the guides are constantly taking pictures, so I now have this picture of me (accidentally blocking Mike) getting onto the bus.
Our Adventure guides were Doug and Diana by the way. As we started the drive towards our resort, they told us about how the scenery was going to change several times over the course of our trip. They mentioned the Saguaro Cactus, and may I just say, learning about a plant has never been so much fun! They pulled over to the side of the road for us to get pictures because they are memorably large. We listened to a song and even got to try cactus candy. It was a hit! While I've had it before, many of us, including my husband hadn't and loved it. Only a picture of the cactus here, because the wind was not being my friend...
We also stopped at Montezuma's Castle. We sat under a covered area and learned about how inaccurately it was named, along with other interesting facts. A few stragglers stopped to listen in. I probably would have too!
Most of us had been arrived early in the morning and were pretty tired by the time we arrived to Enchantment Resort. Doug told us that while Enchantment Resort was the fanciest, (with the best internet and cell service) Red Cliff's Lodge was often the favorite. This was helpful and intriguing to know.
We had a private check in area, and were then driven to our rooms by “Golf Cart ninjas.” Enchantment Resort is pretty big, so it was nice to have a fast and fun transportation service. (After we got our bearings, I would say we used the golf cart ninjas vs walking about 50/50) Our bags, along with an additional welcome gift, were waiting in our room. The room was playing relaxing music that we enjoyed so much, we also listened to in the mornings while we were getting ready. I immediately gushed over the shower and bath tub, and made a mental note that I would get a relaxing bath in at some point!
When we arrived for the “mixer” part before dinner, we came to a table filled with name lanyards, and were asked to pick someone else’s up to meet. We enjoyed chips, queso, and beer or wine during this time. My husband went for the chips and queso. I went for the wine. We all found the correct names and met our new adventuring friends.
There was a Mike and Michael. A small bit of confusion ensued until they found each other lol
Dinner was served buffet style after a welcome from our Adventure Guides. Wine and beer were also serve yourself, which apparently isn’t always the case. No one questioned it. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Everything was so delicious, we forgot to get a picture until dessert. The s’mores bite was fun and tasty, but I was too full for my other treats. I kept the cookie sandwich for a later snack, and found out from others the pink cupcake was actually carrot cake. This feels a little like false advertising to me, but I heard it was tasty!
We were welcomed towards the end of our dinner with Native American flute music performed by Eldred. It was really lovely and I was able to go ask questions after and learned about how each item he brought with him was made. This was a bow from his grandfather.
When we got back to our room, I took my relaxing bath, and we fell into a deep sleep ready to wake up to adventure!
*The Paddle of Power is the name for the adorable sign our adventure guides held that got us into exclusive experiences and ensured we didn't wait for anything. We could also get pictures with it, because fun! It will show up future posts.
