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!

 

[FlaggNL]

Great start of the TR! Thanks for sharing! The pics are marvelous! Can't for more! Following along!

 

[Disneygal1]

Great start of the TR! Thanks for sharing! The pics are marvelous! Can't for more! Following along!

Thank you! I try really hard to get some good quality pictures. Thanks for reading!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm excited for more!!! My hubby and I were at Bradenton Beach this past September and have to agree Anna Maria Island was beautiful. I'd love to go back.

 

[sheriffwoody]

I just realized you're the same girl whose high school grad TR I just read! I promise I'm not stalking...haha. I also just found the one from Christmas with your family. I love digging up old trip reports.

 

[bethymouse]

Great pics!

 

[Disneygal1]

I'm excited for more!!! My hubby and I were at Bradenton Beach this past September and have to agree Anna Maria Island was beautiful. I'd love to go back.

Yay! I loveee Bradenton Beach. My grandparents have two condos in Bradenton that have been in our family for over 40 years. We actually spent some of our last night at old downtown Bradenton, which was a blast. '

I just realized you're the same girl whose high school grad TR I just read! I promise I'm not stalking...haha. I also just found the one from Christmas with your family. I love digging up old trip reports.

Haha, yes! I love to do trip reports. They ease the pain of not being in WDW. I'm glad you're enjoying them!

Great pics!

Thank you!!

 

[Dana Boo]

Congrats on your graduation, and best of luck with the job search!!

 

[Mom@disney]

I love Chef Mickeys too! It hold a special place in my heart since it was our very first TS restaurant and my girls were only 3 and 6. I always grab a dinner plate too for the desserts

 

[epcotisbest]

Very good TR so far. Enjoying the pics. We always stop for the "Welcome to Florida" juice on our way down. The new Poly lobby does look nice. As for Waffle House, I always get the smothered hash browns, my wife, the waffles...yummy.

 

[Mickey2422]

Enjoying the beginning of your report and looking forward to more... Great photos (cant wait for more food pics - my fave )

 

[ILoveDisney2006]

I love the trip report!!! Can't wait for more!! Living vicariously through you!!!

 

[Disneygal1]

Congrats on your graduation, and best of luck with the job search!!

Thank you very much!!

I love Chef Mickeys too! It hold a special place in my heart since it was our very first TS restaurant and my girls were only 3 and 6. I always grab a dinner plate too for the desserts

Same here! Chef Mickey's really gets me in that Disney mood. I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that! Haha

Very good TR so far. Enjoying the pics. We always stop for the "Welcome to Florida" juice on our way down. The new Poly lobby does look nice. As for Waffle House, I always get the smothered hash browns, my wife, the waffles...yummy.

Free orange juice is the best! The Poly lobby is definitely impressive, and I'm happy that I was not disappointed. And yes, the Waffle House is awesomeee, but I think I need to try smothered hash browns now. Sounds delicious!

 

[Disneygal1]

Enjoying the beginning of your report and looking forward to more... Great photos (cant wait for more food pics - my fave )

Thank you! Food pics are my favorite, too!

I love the trip report!!! Can't wait for more!! Living vicariously through you!!!

Thank you for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

 

[Tink28]

Loving the report, looking forward to more!

 

[Disneygal1]

Day 1: The Final Part

We ended our night at Chef Mickey's by Jodi and Rachel taking pictures with the characters.

They're cute...

After our meal, we realized it was 9:50, which means Wishes was in 10 minutes. We knew we had to wait and watch the fireworks. Since this was Rachel's "first" full on WDW trip, I knew the view of the fireworks had to be awesome. Therefore, going to the Cali Grill Observatory was a must. I believe this may be looked down upon since we weren't dining there, but we did have reservations for the Cali Grill in a couple of days. So naturally, I claimed we were entitled to going up there, haha. Now, you cannot get to the Cali Grill fireworks area on the elevators since A) You need a reservation or B) You're a contemporary guest. From this information, I am sure you all know how we got up there. 11 or so flights later and after a huge meal, we felt like we were going to die. It was actually a lot of fun, though. I recall Jodi saying, "We just ate a crap ton and now we're running up stairs!" while we passed a couple. They started laughing.

Anyway, it was well worth it and was a great end to our first day.

For some reason, I can never take a clear picture of this view at night.

There's our Bay Lake "friends!"

LOL at my more poor attempt in taking a fireworks picture.

After Wishes, we headed back to the lake side of the resort to watch a little bit of the Water Parade. We then headed back at all stars.

Next Up: The Coolest Summer Ever 24 hour Event!

 

[Disneygal1]

Loving the report, looking forward to more!

Thank you for reading!!

 

[danheaton]

Great trip report so far! Looking forward to seeing the rest.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

Loving your report and your photos are so fun! Congrats on graduating college! I did that trip 2x in college and the. Upon graduation - some of my best memories! Can't wait to read some more!

 

[Disneygal1]

Day 2: Coolest Summer Ever Part 1

I have a confession to make. We sleep in, especially me. I kind of have this issue where I can go to sleep at 4 am and wake up around 1. My body clock is weird. Luckily, the girls sleep in, too. They just don't have insomnia like me, haha. Anyway, everyday of this trip we "slept in" till at least 9:30, which was really messing with my summer body clock. (I am telling you this because this will end up explaining another part of a story later).

Ever since Jodi was little, she has adored the Disney wake up calls. So of course, she just had to have a wake up call everyday. There were two issues with the wake up calls (I'm sure this has been discussed, but it's been a while since I've stayed in the hotels. I'm a Fort Wilderness girl.): Firstly, the wake up calls have been changed in a disappointing way. No longer will Mickey and Goofy call you. You will just answer the phone to a recording informing you on what is happening for the day. I feel sorry for the kids who will never have memories of answering the phone to Mickey and his pals letting you know it's time to get up for a magical day (I loved this too). Honestly, though, why Disney??? Secondly, our wake up calls were rendered useless as Jodi would simply pick the phone up, hang up right away, and go to sleep. Yep, so we never got up when we were suppose to.

Quite surprisingly, we got up earlier than the rest of the days on our second day. This was mostly due to the 24 hour event, and we had a lot packed into our day.

After getting ready, we headed over to the food court for breakfast. I'm not a breakfast person, and I consider coffee to be a meal, so I often skipped my quick service credits (more on that later). I had coffee, and the girls all had the same thing:

Looks delicious.

Oh and I have a funny story regarding coffee. I drink my coffee with 2% milk. Always have and always will. Well, I noticed the only selection at the food court was cream, and I just do not like cream in my coffee. I asked Cassie about it since she worked at the All Star Sports food court during her Disney College Program. She told me that the food court does, in fact, provide milk for its guests and that you just have to ask for it.

So, I approached a cast member at the register and just as they were about to get someone to get me some milk, a creepy manager was overhearing the convo and offered to help me. I obliged, and he took me to the drink station. He went into the station's little room (I think it may be a large refrigerator) to grab the milk. Once he came back, he was about to pour the milk in my coffee! There's a lot of things wrong with this situation. One, I wasn't ready since I hadn't put my sugar in yet, and I always put sugar in first so it can melt. Two, no way in heck am I going to allow him to pour milk into MY coffee. I mean, I know the EXACT amount I need, and I am very particular with my coffee.

As soon as he tried to poor the milk in my coffee, I told the manager to stop (politely) and asked him if I could pour the milk in my coffee. He informed me that I could not do that and that he had to do it- to which I replied, "Really? That's strange." Lmao, I was infuriated. I told him I wasn't even ready yet, and he offered to wait for me and basically hover over me as I prepared my drink. UHH, no. I am not 12. My lord.... I basically told him to get lost by saying I would rather do it alone and would ask later. After I prepared my coffee, I asked another cast member at the drink station. She grabbed the milk and GAVE ME the carton to pour the milk myself.

This had to be one of the strangest incidents I have endured regarding coffee, and let me tell you, there are crazier stories to come...

I love taking candids.

After breakfast, we headed to my car to drive over to the Magic Kingdom parking lot, which I somewhat despise. Sorry guys, that lot is huge, and I'm not a fan of having to take the monorail or ferry to get to MK.

Of course when we got there, the monorail was "out of service," so we had to take the ferry.

As we were getting on the ferry, were told by a cast member that being upstairs is better because the people upstairs are the ones to exit first. This concept made no sense to me, but we decided to test his theory out.

This was also my first time being able to have a "complete" view of the ridiculously priced Polynesian bungalows. They were impressive, but oh my, there are way more than I thought. Cassie and I both voiced that there are just way too many, and I almost think the amount is unnecessary.

When parallel to these, you can hardly see the Polynesian.

They are cool, though. I mean, there's a pool and everything (National Lampoon's Vacation reference). And just look at those net chair things! So yeah, I have a love-hate relationship with these things.

Happy, happy

Oh, oh! There it is.....

More to come...

 

[Disneygal1]

Great trip report so far! Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Loving your report and your photos are so fun! Congrats on graduating college! I did that trip 2x in college and the. Upon graduation - some of my best memories! Can't wait to read some more!

Aww, thank you. That sounds like lots of fun. I seriously love all girls trips. We felt like we had a lot of freedom to do anything in the parks. It was nice.