Trip Report Completed: 24 Disney Hours! May 2015 Trip Report

Hi Everyone!
I've read so many trip reports here which has inspired me to write my own after many trips.
Hope y'all will follow along!


Who:
My sister, Alyssa (25), and me, Sam (27)
Here we are last December...our first visit to see the Osbourne Lights
DSC00883.JPG



When:
May 21-May 27th
We were originally planning just to go Thursday the 21st - Monday, but airfare was crazy for Memorial Day, so we were able to add two more days to the vacation and still come out ahead!

Where:
Port Orleans French Quarter


On our last trip in December 2014, we were both sad as we were on our final day, not knowing when we’d return. Then it hit me; we have to do the 24-hour day if it was happening in 2015! We had always wanted to do it but hadn't been able to make it happen, but this year – it was set, if it were to happen, we’d be there!

Imagine my excitement when I get a call from work saying I’d be traveling to Boston to co-produce Disney’s announcement of the COOLEST SUMMER EVER, kicking off with the Magic Kingdom staying open for 24 hours on May 22nd! (I'm a meteorologist/producer for Good Morning America and Disney was announcing the Coolest Summer Ever on our show! I'm also the Disney go-to person for the show, and love to take full advantage of all of the benefits working for The Walt Disney Company:happy:)

I immediately called my sister BEYOND excited that we FOR SURE have a trip to plan!!

In Boston for the announcement with OLAF!
IMG_0835.JPG



So here we are, May 21st, Disney bound!!

Alyssa was able to get crazy cheap airfare out of Philly, so she left from there, meanwhile I work in NYC and grabbed a great deal out of LaGuardia. Luckily our flights both left at the same time, and we met in MCO!


Magicbands+Disney Alex & Ani ready!
IMG_2097 1.JPG

IMG_2099.JPG


We headed to DME and unfortunately had to wait FOREVER! But we eventually made it! By this point it was around 8:30, we both had long days (I start work at 4am) and had to be up early for the kickoff to the 24 hour day…but we couldn’t just go to bed, we were in DISNEY WORLD! SO off to Magic Kingdom we went:)

SO HAPPY TO BE IN FLORIDA, PALM TREES!
IMG_2110 1.JPG

Alyssa recreating a picture from last trip when we weren’t paying attention and got off the bus at FQ instead of Riverside hah!
IMG_2113 1.JPG



I had booked FP+ in advance, in case we decided we wanted to go Thursday night, so we got there in time for the Wishes FP. I really liked the FP area, we could see great, and it didn’t feel that crowded.
IMG_2125 1.JPG

Wishes is my favorite thing in the world, I could watch it every single night and get goosebumps.

IMG_2170 1.JPG


After Wishes, we made our way to Princess Fairytale Hall for our FP with Rapunzel and Cinderella. Cinderella will always be my all time favorite, but I love Rapunzel SO much. She is always so fun!
IMG_2174 1.JPG

Rapunzel commented on our ears- she said she wants to make ears for Pascal! But since he is smaller than her foot, they would have to be really tiny! And has to change colors just like him :D

Cinderella was scared of Alyssa’s Maleficent ears ha
IMG_2180 1.JPG


It was getting late, and we had an early morning and long day ahead, so decided to head back, unpack and get to bed.
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Back to Magic Kingdom! :D:D

We got a spot in the hub and watched Celebrate the Magic, then sat there to eat dinner and watch the Electric Parade. It was so nice and quiet! Not crowded at all, everyone had plenty of room sitting to enjoy the parade and Celebrate the Magic. Was actually relaxing :)

During the middle of the parade, a bunny ran out into street! It couldn't figure out how to get from the center hub back to the grass across the street. The parade stopped in place and the bunny eventually jumped through some people on the curb making it safely back to the grass :)
24 hours-819.jpg
24 hours-820.jpg
24 hours-821.jpg
24 hours-822.jpg
24 hours-829.jpg
24 hours-840.jpg
24 hours-868.jpg


After the parade, we had to make our nightly visits to the princesses!
Rapunzel liked the color of our shirts and was talking about Pascal changing colors.
Cinderella didn’t have much to say, but she was concerned with Alyssa losing her shoes since she was wearing flip flops.

24 hours-871.jpg
24 hours-878.jpg
24 hours-879.jpg
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After visiting the princesses we hung back in the hub taking pictures, facetiming our parents, and waiting for the kiss goodnight!
24 hours-883.jpg

24 hours-885.jpg


Alyssa knows how much I love sideways pictures, and pictures that cut off the top of the castle :rolleyes:
24 hours-886.jpg
24 hours-891.jpg
24 hours-894.jpg
24 hours-905.jpg
24 hours-907.jpg


Tomorrow is Memorial Day, we celebrated at Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, the pool, the Polynesian and Magic Kingdom! :D
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Great updates! Nice to see some POR pictures, the resort we will be staying in October 2016 :)
You will LOVE it! I really have nothing bad to say about either resort. We explored more of POFQ than Riverside and loved the pool, the food was all really good, nothing ever seemed crowded, and the one bus stop is a big bonus! Plus the proximity to everything, only a couple minutes walking no matter where you are going across the resort - buses, boats, food, pool! And location within the property feels good too - the buses never seemed to take that long going to any destination. And the boat to DTD is a beautiful and relaxing ride. I could go on and on... :)

We were actually staying at POFQ on May 22nd-24th as well..great report!
so funny! I'm sure we crossed paths at some point then! :)
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
You will LOVE it! I really have nothing bad to say about either resort. We explored more of POFQ than Riverside and loved the pool, the food was all really good, nothing ever seemed crowded, and the one bus stop is a big bonus! Plus the proximity to everything, only a couple minutes walking no matter where you are going across the resort - buses, boats, food, pool! And location within the property feels good too - the buses never seemed to take that long going to any destination. And the boat to DTD is a beautiful and relaxing ride. I could go on and on... :)

Wow, just superlatives :) We can't wait for being there. This October we will explore POFQ :) Great that everything is close by! Most people we hear are talking great about this resort. Like you said every resort is ok, but this one is even a bit more OK. Not that big, less crowded etc etc. Can't wait to take the boat to DTD :) The buses are going to the hub and from there to other parks or you can grab a bus to every park from POFQ/POR? Are the waterparks reachably by direct bus, or also first to the hub? :)
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wow, just superlatives :) We can't wait for being there. This October we will explore POFQ :) Great that everything is close by! Most people we hear are talking great about this resort. Like you said every resort is ok, but this one is even a bit more OK. Not that big, less crowded etc etc. Can't wait to take the boat to DTD :) The buses are going to the hub and from there to other parks or you can grab a bus to every park from POFQ/POR? Are the waterparks reachably by direct bus, or also first to the hub? :)
You can get a bus to any park from POFQ/POR :) We never took a bus to the waterparks from the resort, but they did come - i think it was a combo with DTD and the waterparks, or one of the parks and the waterparks. Not positive, but there was a bus that went there from the resort!
 

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
You can get a bus to any park from POFQ/POR :) We never took a bus to the waterparks from the resort, but they did come - i think it was a combo with DTD and the waterparks, or one of the parks and the waterparks. Not positive, but there was a bus that went there from the resort!

Thanks for the info, I guess it will wotk out just fine next Oct and Oct 2016 :) And thanks for the AK updates! pics are more than great!
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next up was breakfast, kinda ;)

Two of my favorite things, combined - dole whip & coconut rum :inlove:
24 hours-994.jpg


Our next stop was Dawa Bar - I had to try a Bloody Mary, I believe Alyssa had the Lost on Safari. You can tell by her face how she felt about it :) it wasn't bad - just different! We both really liked this place and probably would have stayed longer but we had to get to Festival of the Lion King!
24 hours-996.jpg

24 hours-997.jpg
24 hours-1002.jpg


Festival of the Lion King was another thing we've always talked about doing but never have, I don't know why! It won't be missed in the future though - it was really amazing!! The monkeys were our favorite part. The whole show really surpassed any expectations we had.
24 hours-1005.jpg
24 hours-1007.jpg
24 hours-1010.jpg

24 hours-1036.jpg
24 hours-1022.jpg
24 hours-1015.jpg
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our last Animal Kingdom FP was for Kali River Rapids. We always joke about this, i'm not really sure why, but it has become a joke between Alyssa and I yet neither of us have ever been on it.
I had said with Splash Mountain (and POTC) that I don't like getting wet - so when making our FP choices I figured we would make this the last of our day, and in the hottest part of the day, so we would be relieved, and could go back to the hotel after.

The stand-by line was 2 hours!!! SO happy we had FP+ otherwise we wouldn't have done it.
It was really funny - the one family with us were wearing ponchos. We went down the hill and it was a giant WALL of water up the side of the raft and onto everyone wearing ponchos. BUT! All the water went down the neck opening of the ponchos and they ended up 100 times more soaked than Alyssa and I! :p We thought it was really funny.

Kali River Rapids aftermath :)
24 hours-1038.jpg


Our last stop in AK was to see Goofy and Pluto :)
24 hours-1041.jpg


Then we hopped on the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to catch a bus to Downtown Disney!

Love this poster :)
24 hours-1048.jpg


Before we went, we made a list of new things and places we wanted to try - one of those was Dockside Margaritas. Really good! Would have been nice to sit there and enjoy it - but we decided to walk with it instead.
24 hours-1051.jpg


Then we stopped in the World of Disney store - I added two new Alex and Ani bracelets to my much too big collection. I picked up the 2015 one and "Believing is Just the Beginning":inlove:
IMG_2611 1.JPG

Then we walked down to Splitsville. We LOVE this place! We try to go whenever we're in Disney because we love it so much. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside with the live music playing :) The food is really good - we've only ever had the sushi and it's some of the best we've ever had. Can't say enough good things about this place - it's a cool place to stop even just for a drink!
IMG_2928.JPG
IMG_2505 1.JPG
IMG_2929.JPG
 

Attachments

  • 24 hours-1055.jpg
    24 hours-1055.jpg
    115.9 KB · Views: 47
  • 24 hours-1054.jpg
    24 hours-1054.jpg
    137.7 KB · Views: 46

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
Fantastic update! Your AK photos made me feel like I was there. I LOVE the Dole Whip with coconut rum!!!!! Festival of the Lion King is amazing! We saw it during our visit in 2004 and haven't been back since. No clue why! I think my sister and I have to make it a priority on our 2016 trip. Your Kali River Rapids story about the family wearing ponchos was too funny! Great collection of Alex and Ani bracelets. I almost bought one last summer but decided against it at the last minute. I have regretted not buying it ever since. I think that is a "must buy" on my next trip! Looking forward to more.
 

samantha788

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Fantastic update! Your AK photos made me feel like I was there. I LOVE the Dole Whip with coconut rum!!!!! Festival of the Lion King is amazing! We saw it during our visit in 2004 and haven't been back since. No clue why! I think my sister and I have to make it a priority on our 2016 trip. Your Kali River Rapids story about the family wearing ponchos was too funny! Great collection of Alex and Ani bracelets. I almost bought one last summer but decided against it at the last minute. I have regretted not buying it ever since. I think that is a "must buy" on my next trip! Looking forward to more.
Thank you!!
I want the dole whip with coconut rum right now!:) haha.
I love all the Disney Alex and ani. That's just a portion of my collection, but I feel like they're the perfect souvenirs! I end up wearing a couple of them every day and they always make me smile :)
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom