Trip Report College Graduation Celebration: Inappropriate stories, crazy cast members, taking selfies, and FOOD

When you're post vacation depression finally settles in, what must a crazed WDW fan do? Make a trip report, of course! As I type this trip report in 60 degree weather in the boring Chicago suburbs, I hope to bring magic to your home, in addition to some many, many laughs. Enjoy!

Reason: Cassie (my best friend since the 2nd grade) and I's (Jessica) college graduation! After a four grueling years of schooling, we figured we earned a much needed all girls trip to WDW.

Here's a photo of the cast with some brief information about us to make you a little more familiar with us.

From left to right:

Jessica (me, 22): I received my B.A. in elementary education at the University of St. Francis with additional endorsements in special education and middle school social science and language arts. I hope to be obtaining a teaching job at the primary level for the upcoming school year!

Jodi (my sister, 20): Jodi is a hair stylist, and is also attending junior college to eventually obtain a degree in business or communications. Jodi is actually applying for the Disney College Program in August.

Rachel (Jodi's best friend, 20): Rachel also has her cosmetology license. While going to the same college as Jodi (they are in some of the same classes), Rachel works a ton as a waitress.

Cassie (my best friend, 22): Cassie has a B.S. in Psychology from University of Illinois. Cassie will be attending grad school in the fall at Midwestern University to earn her masters in occupational therapy. Cassie did the Disney College Program last year and graduated from it. She has lots of inside knowledge!

I have made trip reports before, so feel free to check them out:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...hot-days-fun-times-and-plenty-of-food.762909/

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...-years-at-the-happiest-place-on-earth.878566/

Now, onto the report!

 

[littleroo]

Love the pic! Looking forward to hearing of your adventure!

 

[Disneygal1]

Plan: Leave May 18th. Spend the 19th & 20th at Ann Maria Island. 21st: Disney for 7 nights!!!

Off We Go!

Jodi, Rachel, and I got up at 3:30 am and left at 4:30 am. Let me tell you, it was painful to sleep about 2.5 hours, but well worth it. We had to pick Cassie up at U of I since she had graduated the day before.

Here's us at 4:30!

It took a little under two hours to get to Cassie's school and then we were off to Valdosta, Georgia, our planned rest stop.

Driving out of Illinois takes about 5 hours, so we were very happy to see this sign!

We drove into a lot of rain storms on our way down and luckily they occurred while I was driving- since we drove my car down.

I drove to the Georgia state line and then had Jodi take over.

At around 8:00 we arrived at Valdosta. We stayed at a Holiday In Express. In my opinion, we made great time. It was really nice to be able to take a shower and get a full night sleep, especially after only sleeping 2.5 hours the night prior, haha.

The next morning, we went to the most luxurious and best tasting breakfast joint in the south, The Waffle House. Now, don't even try to disagree with me. As Jodi and I would say, "It's our jam." We love it so much that we always have to make a stop when we're down there.

Can you believe how much we were able to "fit" into a midsize sedan trunk?! Although we did have a few times where we were unable to close it...

Hello, beautiful

You're jealous of my all star breakfast.

Next up: Arriving in Florida!

 

[Disneygal1]

Love the pic! Looking forward to hearing of your adventure!

Thank you!

 

[sheriffwoody]

As a Tennessee girl, I can definitely relate to the Waffle House love! I live within walking distance of one . My dad and papaw used to take me every Saturday morning growing up!

Looking forward to reading your trip report! Looks like a fun girls trip, and I'm sure it'll make me jealous.

 

[Disneygal1]

At about 10 am, we arrived in Florida.

Loveeee that sign.

We, of course, needed to make a stop at the Florida Welcome Center and take advantage of the free orange juice.

First vacation selfie

She's sneaky.

At around 1, we arrived at Anna Maria Island. This area is without doubt my favorite part of Florida, so I made it a must for a girls trip.

Our fancy motel. We had the "suite." The suite had two bedrooms, a kitchen, dining area, and sitting area. It was really nice, and we felt apart of the island.

These photos are unedited. It was seriously so beautiful. If you haven't been, I highly recommend visiting the area. For the two days, we shopped at St. Armands circle, drove through the islands, saw bits of Sarasota, visited Siesta Key, and so on. It was a blast.

I won't bore you with anymore non-Disney stuff. Next up: DISNEY!

 

[Disneygal1]

Day 1: Part 1

We left Anna Maria on May 21st at 9:00. Since check in at All Stars is 3:00, we decided to stop at the outlet to buy some last minute things for the 24 hour event. We quickly shopped since we wanted to take full advantage of our first day in WDW. Plus, we were on the dining plan, which means lots of food pics are coming soon to a computer near you.....

Home!

Cassie had a cast member friend who was able to get us a great discount. We had a choice of All Star Sports or Movies. We chose movies for obvious reasons (ehm, ehm avoiding sport groups, ehm). I have also stayed at movies before, so it was nice to be back.

When we checked in at noon, our room was already ready.

I was surprised by the lack of comforter and replacement with a weird comforter-looking throw.

Getting ready...

We were starving, so we decided to eat before we did anything.

Because she loves them so much.

No food pictures here. Jodi, Cassie, and Rachel had chicken nuggets with fries. I have no clue what I had, but stay tuned for hotel hopping and Chef Mickey's! And some CRAZY stories.

 

[Disneygal1]

As a Tennessee girl, I can definitely relate to the Waffle House love! I live within walking distance of one . My dad and papaw used to take me every Saturday morning growing up!

Looking forward to reading your trip report! Looks like a fun girls trip, and I'm sure it'll make me jealous.

Ahh, I'm jealous of your proximity to Waffle Houses. I think it's so unfair how we don't have them up north; but then again, that's what makes them kind of special- for me at least. I guess it's a catch 22. I'm glad we both have great memories of it, though!

 

[LisaBelle]

Great start. Welcome to teaching! I am a kindergarten teacher in Ohio. My family loves stopping for free orange juice, too. Anna Maria Island looks beautiful. My son loves the beach so we will definitely look into staying there on our next trip to WDW. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Disneygal1]

Day 1: Part 2

After eating, we did our most favorite thing, hotel hopping.

We decided to stop at the Wilderness lodge and take a boat to the Contemporary to get on the monorail route.

There was a lot of construction going on at the Wilderness Lodge. Part of the construction was the obvious conversion of the rooms to DVC "rooms," and there were also some refurbishments going on. If you look closely, you can see scaffolds on the front of the lodge.

Were were able to catch a boat right away that made a stop at Fort Wilderness.

Ahh, the contemporary

I used my snack credit and got a cup of soft served ice cream, which I regret. I totally forgot how the Contemporary has fake ice cream. I believe it's called non-fat ice cream or something, but it is not creamy at all. I highly recommend getting dole whip, water park, or even Fort Wilderness ice cream. Haha, these are the places where you can get real ice cream. It's weird how they're different everywhere.

On the monorail!

Perhaps she's snapchatting? This has become a new obsession, especially in the parks, which I'll explain later...

We got off at the Polynesian and were treated with these beauties.

In my opinion, the lobby was tastefully done, and I'm rather fond of it. I love how there's more seating, and the spaciousness makes the Poly big and less confined. I also really like the new lights.

Beyond those lights...

Another

 

[Disneygal1]

Great start. Welcome to teaching! I am a kindergarten teacher in Ohio. My family loves stopping for free orange juice, too. Anna Maria Island looks beautiful. My son loves the beach so we will definitely look into staying there on our next trip to WDW. Looking forward to reading more.

Thank you! How cool! I love to see that other teachers are on here. The free orange juice is great. The fact that it tastes good is the icing on top of the cake. Your son would love Anna Maria Island. It's about 3 hours west of Orlando, but well worth it. The water was so clear that we snorkeled. We definitely had a blast. Thanks for reading!

 

[Mom@disney]

Great trip report so far. Loving the pictures!

 

[Disneygal1]

Cassie pointed out how the pool area was all new. I wasn't able to really notice, as I really never paid attention to the pool (haha). Cassie said she really liked it, though.

Consequently, I took pictures to document the additions!

Seriously, the lobby never gets old.

The tiki man

While we were exploring, we came across the pretty secretive inside entrance for Trader Sam's. The restaurant/bar had just opened and we were able to get in. We weren't really in the mood to get drinks since we had to get ready, so we just stood around for a couple of minutes.

I have to say, Trader Sam's is pretty neat, but really small. The cast members in front of the restaurant take count of who enters. You can tell they will not let anyone in past a certain number capacity. I'm assuming we were pretty lucky to get in right away.

Once we were done shopping and exploring, we hopped back on the monorail to get to the Grand Floridian.

I just love GF's lobby.

We did lots of shopping here. I got two body butters and some chapstick at Basin White. Ohh, and I splurged at the clothing shop downstairs by buying a Lilly Pulitzer dress for our dinner at in a couple days.

After shopping, I took Cassie and Rachel to see Victoria & Albert's since they had never seen its entrance. I explained how you could kind of see the restaurant through the windows on the door and insisted that they should peak in. Well, they did, and some cast members noticed and stood in front of the doors. I found this pretty odd how I use to do this all the time, and I almost sure the diners can't event see the front doors from where they were.

After exploring GF, we hopped back on the monorail to make our way back to All Stars.

 

[Disneygal1]

Great trip report so far. Loving the pictures!

Thank you!!

 

[DizneyPryncess]

Love the report so far & the pictures!! I drive from PA every year, and had no clue about the free orange juice at the Florida welcome center! Something to remember for this fall.

 

[Disneygal1]

Love the report so far & the pictures!! I drive from PA every year, and had no clue about the free orange juice at the Florida welcome center! Something to remember for this fall.

Oh, you must stop for the orange juice! It's a great welcome treat from the good ol' state of Florida. Thanks for reading, and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 

[blreinsel]

Loving your TR! Friend trips are my favorite to read about. I leave for my own trip with my best friend on Sunday, so your report is definitely getting me excited! Following along!

 

[stevehousse]

great start!

 

[Disneygal1]

Oh look! My favorite sight on the monorail.

Once we got back to the monorail, we waited on the dock to catch a boat.

...and there's our boat

As we were heading back to our car, I managed to take some pictures of the lodge.

We went back to All Stars and got ready for dinner at Chef Mickey's. Naturally, I insisted on us doing a Kardashian selfie.

The sun was setting when we got to the Contemporary. The sunset looked beautiful over Bay Lake.

We checked in an hour before our reservation, and we were seated within 5 minutes. We did request special seating with the manager. For some reason, we were taken to be seated in the wrong spot, so we asked to be moved. Haha, we're picky but we did like our requested spot.

So... The food. I honestly do not know why Chef Mickey's gets a bad reputation, but it's obvious Disney pays attention to (at least to some) of the guests' input because the menu was greatly enhanced. While keeping some classics, I found the lobster mac n' cheese, perogies, and vegetable lasagna (I'm sure I missed some) were all to be new and good! Actually this was probably one of my favorite meals this trip. Yes, I said that.

A bad habit of mine is that I'm a fast eater. Usually, when I'm finished, the girls are still eating. Luckily, Cassie finished early too, so we grabbed dessert together. When I'm at buffets, there is no way I'm going to try to fit all of my dessert on those silly, small dessert plates. Therefore, I grab a dinner plate and pile on all of the choices to taste test. A guy had seen what I did and said we knew what we were doing, haha. It was funny because I do know I need to get my monies worth out of my dining plan!

The desert was fantastic, too! Remember those (imo) gross mousse on top of an oero mickey desserts? They're gone. They have been delightfully replaced with a variety of macarons, which happen to be delicious. Tarts, cheesecake cups, and mousse cups were also good!

I did think the plates with the "dividers" were a bit odd for me to fit a ton of food, but understandable for those who do not like their food to touch. No worries as there are some regular plates, too.

Next up: The end of day 1!

 

[Disneygal1]

Loving your TR! Friend trips are my favorite to read about. I leave for my own trip with my best friend on Sunday, so your report is definitely getting me excited! Following along!

How exciting! Have fun! I'm glad it's making you excited.

great start!

Thank you!