Trip Report **COMPLETE** 'Tried the grey stuff it's delicious... don't believe us ask the dishes!!!

Welcome to our first trip report! I've loved reading through lots of fantastic trip reports on here, the pictures and stories got me very excited for my recent trip to Orlando so I figured it would be the perfect opportunity for me to write my very own. First a little background information, I’m Karen (25) from Dublin in Ireland and had my first trip to Orlando at the age of 9 and have since been hooked! I've been a grand total of 6 times including the most recent trip (not nearly enough!). Myself and my sister Rachel (20) read tonnes of trip reports, drooled over all over the Disney treats, researched the magic band system like crazy and planned the out the holiday in advance. Our trip involved 3 completely different types of accommodation, we stayed in a villa in Kissimmee for the first 6 days, Art of Animation at Disney World for 2 nights and finally the Quality Inn Suites on International Drive (at the junction of Sand Lake road).

A relative of ours had booked the house as part of a round the world trip so our accommodation there was free, he won’t feature much in our trip report but when he does we will refer to him as Grumpy. My boyfriend, who shall be known as Sleepy for the duration of our TR, also joined us on the trip for 10days.


Introducing the cast!

Me (left) and Rachel - both from Ireland

Sleepy (my boyfriend) - from the UK, had visited Disney once as a kid but has very vague memories

& Grumpy - our uncle

 

[dancingtodisney]

After the Parade we stopped for a group picture in front of the Castle (Grumpy has been cropped out as he does not want photos posted)

We strolled towards the Town Square Theatre, this was currently the home to both Mickey and the princesses who would be moving shortly to their new meet and greet in fantasyland. Mickey was only a 5min wait and the princesses were 20 so we picked up a fastpass for them.

I adore the set up for Mickey, it makes for such a beautiful photo. I think this is my favourite location for a character photo.

Snow White keeping her eyes on the camera, ever the professional

Outside we spotted another photo opportunity

I think it's a bit silly to have a seating area right behind a nice photo opp like this. I personally wouldn't sit there where people were talking photos like this (there was a constant flow of people getting this pic) especially when there was plenty of other seating around.

From here we moved back towards futureworld and got on Stitch, this is always a massive disappointment for me compared the original Alien ride, I was 9 at the time but I remember it being really scary and one of the stand out rides of the trip. While in the area we went to Monsters Inc Laughter Floor

This ride amazes me, it's one of the rides in Disney were the technology really impresses me. It's so clever and funny, I love it. More rides like this please. None of our party was chosen but we had a great giggle.

One girl was picked for a 'magic trick' for which she had to pick a number, the monsters then asked her to tell the audience what her number was, she did so by holding up her fingers so we could see on the screen, the monsters asked her again to TELL the audience and she said she already had. They both looked shocked and looked at each other, it was really funny.

Time for a quick couple photo

Our fastpass window had opened so we decided to head back to Town Square and meet some princesses! The rest of our gang was not that interested in the princesses. We got inside and I felt really shy all of a sudden This was my very first adult experience of meeting a princess.

I needn't have worried because they were just so incredibly sweet to us

First up was Cinderella herself, she commented on our bags

Showed us how to pose

And say cheeeeeeese

Look at Rachel making sure she was in closer than me... pfffft the cheek

All of sudden Sleepy had decided meeting a princess was actually pretty cool (hmmmmm wonder why??) and hopped in after us

Look at that grin

Cinderella asked if he was a prince and if he'd already met his princess because she had some single sisters that would be interested. I think she spotted my dagger stare and asked if I was his princess. DAMN STRAIGHT lol

Next up was Princess Aurora, she was funny too

We're getting good at posing now

Last but definitely not least was Rapunzel

She loved our satchels and said that her no. 1 tip for us was to carry a frying pan

No. 2 was a hairbrush

I think 3 was apples for Maximus

I really really enjoyed this experience, I would recommend to any adult unsure about meeting princesses to DO IT! This certainly wasn't our only visit!

We ventured outside and it was almost time for the parade so we figured we get a spot and wait for it to start.

DISTRACTION

Her dress is SOOOOOO PRETTY! Her accent was really good, I enjoyed speaking to her.

 

[dancingtodisney]

We got a good spot right at the corner onto Main Street and the marching band came out right away

Our view of Main Street

Just enough time to grab an ice-cream before the main event

Sleepy looks happy with his!

First up GOOFY - MY FAVE!

The Minnie

Pinocchio float

They posed just for me

\

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaah!

The man himself, oh how I love Beauty and the Beast

I couldn't get a good one of Belle, I REALLY want a good picture with Belle in her gold gown. We never found her and this is a MAJOR goal for me for the next trip. Fingers crossed.

 

[dancingtodisney]

After the Parade we decided to walk towards Adventureland. We cooled down at various water spraying stations and ventured into the Swiss Family Treehouse

Such a nice view, makes it seem like the castle is hidden away in a forest. So beautiful.

Our attempt at a nice picture with the view

When we came out we spotted some Pirates

We're coming back for Halloween this year and plan to go to the Mickey's not so scary Halloween party, I'm thinking I'd like to dress up as a pirate and get some cool photos in this area.

We rode Pirates of the Caribbean - this was my first EVER ride in MK, when we arrived in 1997 we watched a parade on Main Street and then it started LASHING so we hurried over to Adventureland and got on Pirates. I just sat back and enjoyed this ride, I love rides that remind you of your first visit and being a kid.

Time to leave MK for the day....

But on the way out we just couldn't resist another photo opportunity!

I think this pic is so cute!

Bye bye Mickey... See ya real soon!

Next up Beaches and Cream!

 

[dancingtodisney]

We took the monorail back to our car and made our way to Disney's Beach Club Resort. The Disney wifi came in great here because we mapped our route on google maps, good thing we did, it would've been hard to find otherwise. We got to the entrance and explained to the CM on duty where we were headed and we were told where to park.

This resort area is pristine, it looks so posh and pretty.

I wish I could of stayed here!

After asking for directions more than once we finally found it!

When we arrived we were told there was about a 30-40min wait for a table. Snow White had a shuttle bus booked and was sure to miss it if we waited but I offered to drive her back (she was staying on International Drive).

We queued at the takeaway counter for drinks and settled at a table outside for the wait.
Except there was no wait, we literally just sat down outside and our table was ready. Sweet!

Our server came over all excited and went through the menu, I think when he saw the size of our group he had some idea of what our order might be. We had come here for one reason only. KITCHEN SINK of course!

He was really happy when we placed our order! I think they sang something when they brought it out, they definitely clapped anyway. I was a little distracted by how yummy it looked

Our server took this snap, check out the jealous looks from the table behind in the mirror

Sleepy ready to dig in

It was MASSIVE, we all had individual bowls that you could scoop bits into it with the giant spoon. I've read about this desert and it's been on my list for a while... Great big TICK. It's so satisfying when you get tick things off your Disney list.

We were STUFFED afterwards, all that was left was melted goo. Our Server stopped by a few times with words of encouragement.

My verdict on this was that it was everything I thought it would be! The resort area itself was a bonus to wander round and it was a neat Disney experience. I would recommend having at least 4/5 people to tackle this monster though!

 

[docdebbi]

enjoying your report. you guys are a trip, so fun.

 

[SarahBella82]

I believe you can meet gold dress Belle in Storytime with Belle now. From the reports I've seen, there's a photo opportunity after the show. And I think she's the princess everyone meets before their Akershos meal too.

 

[Ariel484]

Finally time for some park rides! The ever so helpful Sleepy picked up a map not that we needed it I mean obviously I KNOW MY parks. Don’t be mad because you don’t know as much about parks as I do! (just for you @Ariel484 - we LOL'd so hard at this part of your TR)

Haha, thanks for the shoutout! DON'T BE MAD!

Love the Harry Potter and Simpsons-area pictures!!! I agree with you, the Harry Potter area definitely rivals Disney when it comes to theming!

 

[photoflight]

I then had a little mini freak out OMG I HAVE TO DRIVE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD IN AN AUTOMATIC FOR THE FIRST TIME moment

I'm like that when I rent an automatic and I'm used to driving on the right side of the road. I have to keep saying "don't hit the clutch...don't hit the clutch..."

Good job

 

[FlaggNL]

I am in Great report and love the way you write it! Cant wait for more!! Super funny!!

 

[dancingtodisney]

I believe you can meet gold dress Belle in Storytime with Belle now. From the reports I've seen, there's a photo opportunity after the show. And I think she's the princess everyone meets before their Akershos meal too.

Yes but you have to participate in the storytelling, when we went in (later in the trip) only the people that had parts got to get a picture

We're booking Akershos meal for next trip! Fingers crossed, I guess that stuff is never guaranteed though

 

[dancingtodisney]

Haha, thanks for the shoutout! DON'T BE MAD!

Love the Harry Potter and Simpsons-area pictures!!! I agree with you, the Harry Potter area definitely rivals Disney when it comes to theming!

Ha no problem at all, you had me in stitches with that story.

I think there and Simpsons area are the only fully immersive parts of universal apart from the rides themselves like Spiderman. I’m really rooting for Disney to add some rides like these.

 

[dancingtodisney]

I'm like that when I rent an automatic and I'm used to driving on the right side of the road. I have to keep saying "don't hit the clutch...don't hit the clutch..."

Good job

The clutch thing actually wasn't a problem for me thank god. Turning out onto the road and staying on the correct side. Luckily the passengers would give me a shout when I seemed to heading for the wrong side.

 

[dancingtodisney]

We were all stuffed to the brim after desert and waddled back to our car. Dropped Snow White home and went back to the Villa.

Check out the sunset on our way home

Hollywood Studios tomorrow!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

Up bright and early this morning for Hollywood Studios… As I said at the start of the trip report this park has been my favourite for all of my ‘adult’ visits.

We parked the car and were at the turn styles before they opened we weren’t far back at all. I was a bit giddy this morning because I really like thrill rides and Tower of Terror is probably my favourite Disney ride. I love how the CM’s act so creepy! I went on the one in Paris and in Tokyo as well, I think I maybe preferred the Paris one because I went one time really late at night and they CM was saying something incredibly creepy and because it was in French it genuinely freaked me out.

We are let into the park and start walking towards the hat (with stage in front, kind ruins the view)

Notice how I tried my best to pretend the stage did not exist

I'm expecting to stop shortly for the opening ceremony like the last time I visited but too my surprise there is no rope blocking the street and the crowds are heading straight to TSM. I feel a little flustered now, this is not what I was expecting, I hadn't quite gotten my game face on to face the TSM fastpass queue never mind battle my companions in the ride itself. I got one of the first few precious fast passes and asked a CM what happened to the opening ceremony, he simply said ‘it’s September 11th’ so I figure this is a mark of respect for the day? I'm not 100% sure exactly but I felt a little embarrassed as it seemed like that was an obvious question. (side note we'd actually been on a trip to New York in 2013 also, we stayed with relatives, one was a police officer and the other a fireman so they brought us round and had so much to tell us)

Snow White hadn't arrived yet so we went on the ride as a 4.

Hello Mr Toy Solider

Next was Tower of Terror.....

NOT! Because it was DOWN! This gave me a very funny feeling in my tummy, like despair but I guess that's a really strong word and we were in Disney so you can never really feel true despair because underneath every emotion you have while in Disney is that raging excitement that makes the best of even a bad situation.

Hmmmmmm what could we do now that we were at Tower of Terror but it wasn't running. Is there any ride that could possibly give us the Thrill that we're all seeking nearby? Surely there must be something...

YEP you guessed it...

Omg??? how are we all going to make it to the concert in time with our back stage passes... we need a really fast car, but it has to be big, like a limo, but a limo won't do, we need a really big limo, like a stretch limo, but that's probably not big enough because there really is a lot of people, I know a super stretch limo... YAH!

Ok so sometimes I get a little over excited

3....2....1....

The ride photo thingy was down for our photopasses, that's not good

Hmmmmm Tower of Terror is still down...

OH THE HORROR (I think Rachel went for a graceful scared look in this one)

So.... what to do......

Grumpy was not impressed

Silly Grumpy.....

I explained before about how he didn't see the point in doing rides more than once, it was like he had a checklist to tick and then he'd be done for the day... where's your Disney spirit???!

We get out of Rockin Rollercoaster (ride photo still down ) and Snow White turns up. Tower of Terror is now distributing fastpasses and our window has opened (as mentioned earlier I got very first TSM fast pass window cause I'm AWESOME) so I get us some. Hmmmmmm wonder what we could do now that Snow White has just arrived and we're right outside TOT and R'n'R

Yup... You guessed it!

You should've seen Grumpy's face when we suggested it! But hey the ride photo was working so well worth the 3rd ride and Snow White had never ridden before so it had to be done (not that I was complaining anyway) She didn't know about the shoot off at the start... hehehe she looks petrified.

 

[Maryssa*]

Ahhh count me as another who dearly misses the old Duelling Dragons! It was my favorite roller coaster anywhere! I'm sad to hear they don't even run the trains together anymore =(

 

[dancingtodisney]

Next was TSM... now here I decided to chance my arm. We only had 4 fastpasses as Snow White wasn't in the park when I got them but now (obviously) the fast pass return time was at stupid o'clock in the day. So I went up to the guy and said 'I've only got 4 fastpasses but there's 5 in our group' he gave us a little ticket thingy and sent us straight in. I couldn't believe it, YAH for Disney Magic! Of course Grumpy would've sat out if needed considering he'd already done this one.

Sleepy was the best at this ride too, I got really close to him the first time (he'd never been on it before) but the second time he was miles ahead...
This ride really gives you a good arm workout, especially that very last screen!

It was FINALLY time for my favourite ride… I was about to enter… THE TWILIGHT ZONE (cue lightning sound effect)

Ride Photo…

Some more pictures on Sunset Boulevard

Check out Goofy.. PHOTO BOMB

We decided to go to the early showing of the beauty and the beast, but first we'd need something something to snack on!

This what I got, red velvet cupcake

Rachel got some kind of chocolate thing with white chocolate on top

I think I may have mentioned once or twice before that Beauty and the Beast is my favourite movie. Phone was tucked away in my pocket and I focused on the show and sang along to all the songs I love.

 

[gsrjedi]

Liking your TR. As someone who drives a manual I chuckled that you were nervous about driving an automatic over here. I'm yet to drive in Europe on my visits, but the thought of getting a manual is a big plus.

 

[pumpkin7]

Loving your report! Makes me want to go back and drive this time. I am old enough now... :S

 

[Marijil]

This is a great report

 

[dancingtodisney]

I apologise in advance for the lack of photos during the next section of our report!

After the show we strolled over towards the Studio Backlot Tour. I always forget about parts of this ride. I remembered the water bit at the start, one of the women participating was told to use her binoculars to keep watch for our enemies and made imaginary ones with her hands only for the CM to point out that there were real ones there for her to use… you had to be there

The bit I didn't remember was the disaster canyon so that was a nice surprise! I like this part of the attraction a lot! Adds some excitement!

After the Backlot Tour we hopped onto the Great Movie Ride, I always get the gangster scene, I do like this ride but I think the acting can be really lazy and I guess that's because they do the same thing over and over and over but it takes away from the experience. I would rather they cut all the acting bits out than did them half heartedly.

Indian Jones stunt show was next (last time I went to see this it didn't go ahead due to weather warnings). It was good, some of the stunts are pretty impressive and as it had been a while I really enjoyed the show, I'm not sure if it'll be anywhere near the top of my list for my trip in 2014... Because I'm going to Disney again in 2014 in case you didn't know already... It's about 8months away but I still get giddy everytime I say it!

Next up...

Did I hear a rumour this show might be removed or changed or something? That would be a shame!

It's great when you can sit back and watch something as thrilling as this inside a theme park...

We were all a bit pooped after the show, it was really hot today and it was starting to get to us! Snow White was leaving early with her Mam (who was also in the park somewhere) so we took some photopass pics as we walked her out…

You can see from our faces that our Irish skin wasn't handling the heat all that well!

The next photo resulted in a very funny moment for us all! So as you can see Sleepy and Snow White are on the outside... well the photopass photographer asked if 'Mam and Dad' could squeeze in for the photo... Snow White nearly had a heart attack, "MAM AND DAD!!??!! How old do you think I am??!!" hehehe Also my boyfriend had just been referred to as my Dad... I know he's a bit Sleepy looking and has a few greys but surely he doesn't look old enough to be my Dad??? AWKWARD

Photo turned out nice all the same, Snow White does NOT look impressed....