Trip Report *COMPLETED*A 21st, a first timer, stuck on tower of terror and the never ending rain trip report!

Hi guys! Came back from my trip to Disneyworld Wednesday and decided I best start my report as soon as, considering I slacked on notes and I’m going mainly off memory

You can find my failed pre trip report here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-21st-and-a-first-timer-pre-trip-report.938537/

This is my first time doing a report so go easy on me and my rubbish photograph skills!!

Who: Me and boyfriend Reece.
Why: My 21st and his first time. This is my 5th trip to Disney and was the best one yet!!
Where: Caribbean beach
8th May till 22nd!

*** EDIT It has been brought to my attention I forgot to add a photo of said boyfriend and replaced him with my dog. Here we are ***

Me forcing my dog to take photos before I leave him for two weeks.

So my travelling started a day early on the 7th which was a bank holiday over here in England. We had a few hiccups the days leading up which caused a little bit of stress. First issue we ran into was I had a prescription in the chemist which was closed until Tuesday the day we fly, so I had no chance of picking it up as we leave Monday. I rang multiple chemists open near me to see if they could help until I finally got told to ring the NHS who sent an emergency prescription over to a chemist quite far away. The pharmacist wasn’t very helpful and continuously asking me why I needed to use that service. Because I have nothing better to do on my Friday night sir .

Finally got my prescription and all is good until I pack the last bits of my suitcase and surprise it’s 5KG over! After weighing Reeces he didn’t have much extra space in suitcase but his hand luggage was empty. After chucking some things and filling his bag I was good to go.

So I pick my hand luggage up and the strap snaps off. At this point me and my dad are just staring at it with disbelief, I managed to find the screw that kept it together and we fixed it, so we thought.

Brings us to Monday morning the day we leave for the airport and it’s time to check in and choose seats. We had been monitoring the seats closely for a very long time and they was plenty left, until the last 15 minutes. EVERY single row was full with no seats together!! We were flying with Virgin Atlantic and noticed they was one row in the upstairs bubble had became free! Previously someone had booked one seat in the middle of three obviously in hope to have a row to themselves but for some reason all three seats were now available.

Not wanting to take chances we booked the two seats and paid for them. We ended up having nobody sat next to us either!

At this point I’m hoping, praying in fact nothing else goes wrong like flight delay or anything. Slowly 2pm rolled around and we departed for Manchester Airport, no traffic and everything was plain sailing. The terminal 2 long stay car park was full so we ended up booking terminal 3 and praying the awful reviews were wrong. We managed to get on the shuttle bus (managed being key word, he tried to go past us), he blazed around the corner at a ridiculous speed all the suitcases were falling and he wouldn’t stop to let people put them in the storage racks.

Finally we got to our stop and I pick up my bag and boom the handle snaps off again. It’s 27 degrees (about 80F) now I know this doesn’t sound that hot but I promise you 27 in England feels ten times hotter than 27 in Orlando. The heat was ridiculous and we had a 15 minute walk to our hotel pulling the suitcases and carrying a broken bag. We had plans to go walk the pub and watch planes but we ended up staying in the room with air conditioning full blast and ordered a dominos

We stayed in the Crowne Plaza (no photos I was too annoyed with the world) it was fine, clean and done the job. We could see planes land from our room.

As the night goes on my throat becomes raw and my nose is sniffy, in a panic I overdosed on vitamins and prayed it was allergies.

It wasn’t.

 

[LauraRose]

The second time on ToT was just as great as the first time, I really could just keep going on this ride over and over again!

Reece enjoyed himself as you can see.

We came out at 8.50 on the dot and still had time to get to Fantasmic! We got seated and had 3 mins to spare! I’m not a big fan of Fantasmic (bite me) but I find I get a bit bored with all the projections. Anyway Reece started to feel sick and I wasn’t feeling too great either and was feeling a little dizzy and nauseas. I HATE leaving a show early and having to get past people, after a lot of apologising and trying to not take offence to the death stares we made it out. They wasn’t that long left and they already was a few people departing at the back who were on a mission to get to the Star Wars fireworks. This wasn’t on the cards we just wanted to get back the room! Our bus came pretty quick and we were back at our resort really quickly. Hollywood studios always seemed to be the quickest to get to.

It was time to call it a night after a early start, being lost and sick!

Tomorrow: Island of Adventure!

 

[MegRuss626]

Day 3 Cont
Once we got to the resort once again MouseKeeping was just coming around, I swear we couldn’t call the times. One day it would be 11am then another 4pm.

We quickly changed and got into swimwear and headed to the pool. It was ridiculously hot and we couldn’t settle with the heat. We went for a walk to the sandy area where the hammocks are, all this done was remind me how much I hate sand. After 10 minutes of uncomfortably lying in a sandy hammock we headed back the pool. We only lasted about a hour before heading back to our room and eating some snacks.

So my phone was running purely off WiFi and the signal was pretty rubbish. Reece had upgraded his plan so he could use his phone normally so I used that to FaceTime my mum and dad and show them the resort. Whilst he was eating I went out to show them around. Now one thing about me, if I was put in a maze alone you’d never see me again. I get lost walking round the corner and I can’t follow a map or directions so I’m pretty much a lost cause. I felt pretty confident as I walked out the door until 20 minutes minutes later my mum declares ‘you’re lost aren’t you?’ I also get my poor direction skills from her, she once went to get a drink from a cart in Tomorrowland and it was literally 10 steps away. Me and my dad watched as she span in circles looking confused and started to head towards the castle which was our agreed destination if anyone got lost .

Obviously we ran after her before she walked off but it was pretty amusing to watch and we joked about it, until now and I was in the same position.

I couldn’t remember for the life of me my room name or building number so I literally kept circling building 26 and coming out the exact same place! I thought if I find the pool I know I’m next to that, so I asked a mouse keeper who didn’t understand me and sent me in the direction of the main pool.

I’m still on the phone to my mum at this point so I said I left my mobile in my room so brainwave strikes and I thought I’ll hang up and ring my phone! Well I hang up and realise his phones locked and I can’t remember his password. So I’m walking around for a further 10 minutes, I’m not too bothered as I knew I’d EVENTUALLY find my room but it was hot and I didn’t have anything to drink with me. I finally found myself In my building (oblivious that I was in the correct place) and I spot Reece in the next little row of rooms and he looked a hot mess! “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!” “On an adventure”. I asked him why he didn’t ring his phone from mine but he couldn’t remember my password either. After getting in and deciding I’m not allowed out on my own I started to get ready for Hollywood Studios!

I totally get it with getting lost at that hotel!! We stayed there once in 2013 and I swear I never went back to the room the same way twice the whole week we were there!! It’s crazy! (I also have a poor sense of direction which def doesn’t help!)

 

[StephK]

Loving your trip report! My husband and I were there from 18th - 23rd May and caught the rain too i was devastated to start but we didn't let it stop us and in the end it was actually better then it being SUPER hot! We are Australian and i'm wondering if yours and your boyfriends dizziness came from Jet lag, I found the first week we were in the US i would have random bouts of dizziness and nausea when i was supposed to be asleep at home, it passed after a while luckily! Excited to keep reading

 

[LauraRose]

I totally get it with getting lost at that hotel!! We stayed there once in 2013 and I swear I never went back to the room the same way twice the whole week we were there!! It’s crazy! (I also have a poor sense of direction which def doesn’t help!)

It is so big!! I just had confidence knowing I physically couldn’t walk out of the resort!

 

[LauraRose]

Loving your trip report! My husband and I were there from 18th - 23rd May and caught the rain too i was devastated to start but we didn't let it stop us and in the end it was actually better then it being SUPER hot! We are Australian and i'm wondering if yours and your boyfriends dizziness came from Jet lag, I found the first week we were in the US i would have random bouts of dizziness and nausea when i was supposed to be asleep at home, it passed after a while luckily! Excited to keep reading

Thank you! Yeah it certainly cooled things down, I’ve never wore a jacket in Orlando before but I couldn’t go out without it in the end!
I definitely think so, I was sick coming home and had a fair bit of dizziness as did Reece so more than likely jet lag!

I’m glad you had a lovely trip! Thanks for reading!

 

[fractal]

Day 3 Cont
Once we got to the resort once again MouseKeeping was just coming around, I swear we couldn’t call the times. One day it would be 11am then another 4pm.

We quickly changed and got into swimwear and headed to the pool. It was ridiculously hot and we couldn’t settle with the heat. We went for a walk to the sandy area where the hammocks are, all this done was remind me how much I hate sand. After 10 minutes of uncomfortably lying in a sandy hammock we headed back the pool. We only lasted about a hour before heading back to our room and eating some snacks.

So my phone was running purely off WiFi and the signal was pretty rubbish. Reece had upgraded his plan so he could use his phone normally so I used that to FaceTime my mum and dad and show them the resort. Whilst he was eating I went out to show them around. Now one thing about me, if I was put in a maze alone you’d never see me again. I get lost walking round the corner and I can’t follow a map or directions so I’m pretty much a lost cause. I felt pretty confident as I walked out the door until 20 minutes minutes later my mum declares ‘you’re lost aren’t you?’ I also get my poor direction skills from her, she once went to get a drink from a cart in Tomorrowland and it was literally 10 steps away. Me and my dad watched as she span in circles looking confused and started to head towards the castle which was our agreed destination if anyone got lost .

Obviously we ran after her before she walked off but it was pretty amusing to watch and we joked about it, until now and I was in the same position.

I couldn’t remember for the life of me my room name or building number so I literally kept circling building 26 and coming out the exact same place! I thought if I find the pool I know I’m next to that, so I asked a mouse keeper who didn’t understand me and sent me in the direction of the main pool.

I’m still on the phone to my mum at this point so I said I left my mobile in my room so brainwave strikes and I thought I’ll hang up and ring my phone! Well I hang up and realise his phones locked and I can’t remember his password. So I’m walking around for a further 10 minutes, I’m not too bothered as I knew I’d EVENTUALLY find my room but it was hot and I didn’t have anything to drink with me. I finally found myself In my building (oblivious that I was in the correct place) and I spot Reece in the next little row of rooms and he looked a hot mess! “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!” “On an adventure”. I asked him why he didn’t ring his phone from mine but he couldn’t remember my password either. After getting in and deciding I’m not allowed out on my own I started to get ready for Hollywood Studios!

Your "on ride" photos are the best!

and this story is hilarious! (sorry I'm amused at your expense).

 

[LauraRose]

Your "on ride" photos are the best!

and this story is hilarious! (sorry I'm amused at your expense).

Haha they get even better I promise.

Haha I found it funny but Reece looked traumatised, he said he kept imagining having to ring my parents and say he’s lost me

 

[LauraRose]

Seen this on Facebook which I thought suited

 

[Chef Mickey]

Seems like you had several "no rain" days after all. Unless you're just sharing pictures to give that impression, lol. Glad you had some sun anyway and plenty of days.

On a ride like Pirates, sometimes it takes a lot more riding to develop a sense of nostalgia. I'd argue any ride at Disney needs multiple rides because you can't quite get it all in one go. Make him ride Pirates more!

 

[LauraRose]

Seems like you had several "no rain" days after all. Unless you're just sharing pictures to give that impression, lol. Glad you had some sun anyway and plenty of days.

On a ride like Pirates, sometimes it takes a lot more riding to develop a sense of nostalgia. I'd argue any ride at Disney needs multiple rides because you can't quite get it all in one go. Make him ride Pirates more!

It didn’t rain until the Saturday so we got 5 at the beginning of no rain! Wait till I get onto haunted mansion...

 

[LauraRose]

Day 4: Island of Adventure
We woke up bright and early to try get to universal for 9am. With our matching Jurrasic Park T shirts we were off!

We got a Uber and got into universal for 8:55 and managed to walk through security!

We looked at The Incredible Hulk but I wasn’t feeling brave. I actually hate upside down rollercoasters and just about tolerate RnR. I’m confident one day I’ll go on The Incredible Hulk, however today was not the day.

Spider-Man was listed as 5 mins which was really a walk on. The CM (are universal workers called cast members?) told us to go to row 3 and then two seconds later screamed that she said row 4. Everyone in the que looked bewildered and we vowed she said 3, even if she never the attitude wasn’t really necessary and it wasn’t even half a hour into the park being open.

Reece really enjoyed the ride, I love it myself but I find with these type of rides I get swung around and thrown into the vehicles so much. I have bruises all over my arm from days in universal, especially when you’re sharing a row with someone and the gap between you and the bar is large I end up hanging on for dear life.

It was only 9:30am and it was getting pretty hot already, then Reece spotted Ripsaw Falls.

I’ve never been on this ride, but it looked like I was about to. Last year me and my parents went on Popeyes and they got completely soaked and I stayed pretty dry, it was hilarious watching them get hit again and again by the water. I’ll insert my favourite photo of them;

As I watched people come off Ripsaw they looked pretty dry or a just a bit wet which I was happy with so off we went. This was also a walk on, as soon as I got in the log flume I regretted my decision.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I don’t think I could of got more wet if I tried. I walked off a soggy mess and looking like a wet dog. Reece actually had a spare T shirt he happily changed into and his shorts would dry quickly, but mine were denim and threatening to stay wet for a long time.

I’ve tried them full body dryers before and did absolutely nothing for me other than make me cold. We skipped them thinking it would dry quickly in the sun.

Next we headed over to King Kong, I don’t this for the first time last year and really enjoyed it. Is it just me or does it seem to break a lot? Every time we’ve been standing waiting for the next car to come to board, it breaks!

It was listed as a 15 minute wait but was more like 5 minutes which was when the vehicle broke. Reece also enjoyed it, the animatronic of King Kong is brilliant.

Dununununun dunununun dununuuuu!

It was finally time for Jurassic Park. I LOVE the film so much and have tickets Friday to see Fallen Kingdom. I’ve avoided all trailers and have vowed to commit a crime to anyone who spoils it for me.

Reece also loves the film and has watched the ride on YouTube multiple times! I wish I could just stay on and keep going around and around!

My shorts were drying up but my top was still soaking!

We sat down and had a hot dog and chips combo and headed over to The Wizarding World.
Neither of us are really Harry Potter fans but we can appreciate how well themed this area is.

We headed straight for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

I think the locker rental for rides is good but poorly done. It’s a constant stream of the locker won’t open or it’s shut and people haven’t finished getting their belongings and can’t get back in. Other than that it’s just chaos. Last year we used them on this ride as you have to, as I was pulling my backpack out my phone and gift bag was still in and some lady accidentally knocked the door and it closed and they can’t be unlocked. It took ages to find someone to open it for us and they were very hesitant to open it for me.

I sometimes wish it was compulsory for people to leave phones/cameras in the locker. I fully understand people taking photos and wanting to capture the area, however don’t hold up everyone else for ages to do so. A family in front of us queing would literally stop for ages taking photos of the statues, selfies, group photos and they certainly weren’t letting anyone past. The que would be so backed up because of them, it was meant to be a 15 minute wait but we spent more time waiting for them to finish their photo shoot.
Every time I wanted photos in a que or a busy area I would quickly take one and apologise to the person behind me as a lot of people did. These guys were taking about 10 photos each and they was around 8 of them every time a new picture or statue came along (so about every 5 steps). At this point the whole que was becoming agitated. Don’t even start me with people who use flash on rides.

Rant over and onto the ride. Luckily we got separated as we got on the ride as it pretty confident they’d be trying to take photos and videos. I think this ride is incredible, as did Reece. It’s a good length and has a fair bit of thrill to it! There’s not many rides I would wait a hour for but I definitely would for this!

We got off and collected our belongings (just about machine my locker linked to was broke), and Reece had a mission to try a butter beer. I don’t have a photo but I will ask if he has one. I thought it tasted like melted ice cream, he liked it but only drank half as was a bit sickly in the heat.

The area was so crowded at this point as it was getting to mid day. We walked through and headed over to The Mysic Fountain. Goodness me I could sit here and listen to this fountain all day, the sass from him! My mum loves him so much, I took a video of him arguing with some feisty girl and telling Reece he likes his beard to send her. I’ve never actually interacted with him myself but I really enjoy just sitting and listening.

It was about 12.30 and the wait times were getting high and the heat was sweltering, we called a Uber and was off back the resort.

Next up; lifeguards in training and another evening in Hollywood

 

[Rista1313]

All caught up now... Sorry you caught a cold at the beginning of your vaca.. that's the pits!

 

[LauraRose]

All caught up now... Sorry you caught a cold at the beginning of your vaca.. that's the pits!

Thanks for reading! I know luckily the worst of the cold was the day before we left and the day we flew out. I bought a spray in the airport and it helped so much!

 

[Gurt]

I got soaked in Uni on our 2013 trip ended up getting a cold so we didn't do the water rides in Uni on our 2016 trip and I have no plan to do them on next years trip have a cold on holiday was rubbish.

 

[LauraRose]

I got soaked in Uni on our 2013 trip ended up getting a cold so we didn't do the water rides in Uni on our 2016 trip and I have no plan to do them on next years trip have a cold on holiday was rubbish.

It wasn’t ideal but didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. When we were in the airport I could of cried with how rubbish I felt. I’ll be sure to take extra dosages of vitamins next time!

 

[LauraRose]

Day 4 cont: Stuck on Tower Of Terror
As soon as we got in the resort we headed the pool. We had been following the weather and it looked like today was the final day without rain so we were making the most of it.
We noticed the back end of the pool was cornered off and turned out lifeguard training was on. We watched them for a good two hours and they where actually really funny.

We weren’t sure what we wanted to do that night as we thought we’d be in universal later than we was. I had a look for fastpasses and could get one for RnR and Star Tours so since we hadn’t managed RnR the previous night off we went.

First we headed over to Catalina Eddies for some pizza as we were both completely starving. I can’t comment on how it tasted, I ate it so quickly my tastebuds didn’t stand a chance.

It was time for RnR so we headed over!

We also managed to get front row! The man behind us was sooo jealous . Now I thought Reece knew it was an upside down rollercoaster and just as we were about to get in I made a fleeting comment about it going upside down and he was like ‘WHAT?!’ Then he started worrying about his bag and his glasses and proceeded to ask the CM where he can leave his bag. At this point I was nearly wetting myself laughing and couldn’t bring myself to tell him it’s fine in the car. The CM’s face was a picture, it was almost like she had a speech bubble above her head saying ‘ I don’t have time for this $#!% today’ .

He didn’t trust me that his glasses would be okay and took them off

He loved this ride!!!

We checked the wait time for ToT and was listed as half hour and because we couldn’t get a FP we thought we’d wait. However it was about 10 minutes and the que had hardly moved. We seen a couple in front of us check their phone and walk off then 2 mins later passed us in the FP line! So I checked my phone and they was a FP available for later in that evening at 8:40pm, perfect! So we booked that and headed over to Star Tours.

The que was empty so we stopped for photo’s and a kind man walking trough standby offered to take a photo of us both but I wasn’t feeling it

 

[WASaMATTR]

loving it and following along.

 

[LauraRose]

loving it and following along.

Thank you!

 

[LauraRose]

Sorry I’ve been slacking had a super busy and stressful week .

Hollywood Studios continued;

This screen was the Kylo Ren one (hope that’s his name) and everyone on the ride seemed happy about it. I don’t know much about this ride but do they have multiple screens? Reece loved this version.

We had a fair bit of time until our TOT FP so we headed to Muppets 3D as it was only a 10 minute wait. It was really empty with only about 5 families, so everyone could sit wherever they wanted. I do like this show, although I think it could do with a update I still enjoy it.

It was finally time for TOT so we skipped off bright eyed and bushy tailed. Now I had a funny feeling as soon as the door of the elevator opened and it was pitch black inside and some cheerleader announced ‘well how am I meant to see?’ Didn’t they give you your night vision goggles? Rude.

The CM brushed it off and said it happens sometimes, it was nearly the last ride of the day so they were all rushing and looking at their watches.

We take our seats and I’m praying the cheerleader and her friends behind me will stop being so loud and obnoxious just for one minute.

Spoiler, they didn’t.

Off we go through the twilight zone and I can’t pinpoint the exact moment but it’s just before you go up the lift to drop, the screen goes black for roughly 2/3 seconds. Well it went black and stayed black. Tension was running high in the elevator. Cheerleader was screaming, a little boy wondering if he was about to die, some teenagers screaming about how cool this is. Next minute the lights come on and a CM comes on the speaker claiming the ride had broken down and we may have to be taken off. Cheerleader starts FaceTiming family declaring how she’s going to make sure she gets more than a free FP for her ‘ordeal’ .

We were stuck for about 15 minutes whilst the CM kept saying they were trying to resolve the issue. At this point the cheerleader and friends are vlogging and asking everyone how their day was. Nobody replied and it was pretty awkward .

Finally the CM came back on the mic and announced they are sorry for the inconvenience they have fixed the issue and we will be receiving the ‘full drop’. Whoa what???!!

So the elevator starts moving and bare in mind they is no effects whatsoever it’s just a pitch black cage moving around so I think this made it more scary.

The photo flashed before we plummeted down and Lord behold, my favourite photo of the trip:

Just in case you can’t see the actual horror on my face:

I think I’m close to tears here, meanwhile Reece was in his element.
They was so many drops, I didn’t think it would ever end!!

We finally got off and handed a free FP each. Side note the gobby girl saying she’d make sure she got more than one fastpass shyly took hers and walked off.

We wanted to see the Star Wars fireworks this night but it was nearly over by the time we got off the ride!

Off we went back the resort and luckily the bus came just as we got there!

Next up; animal kingdom and magic kingdom

 

[LauraRose]

Day 5; Animal kingdom and Magic Kingdom

For some reason this day is a bit foggy but I’ll try my best!

We woke up for AK EMH and managed to get there for just gone 8am. I love this park so much and I knew Reece would too.

Also update on my sickness, this was the day I was cold free! I woke up and my nose wasn’t blocked and my scratchy throat was gone! Usually my colds always turn to an infection so I was super relieved as we were both certain I’d be sick for the whole trip.

Today was due to be the first day of storms and rain and it wasn’t looking too sunny out!
We headed straight to the safari as I have always heard it’s better first thing in the morning. It was a walk on which I was thrilled about.

Can I just say this safari was the best one I’ve ever been on. A lot of my photos came out a bit rubbish as I had to zoom in and it ruined the quality, but i’ll insert the ones that aren’t too bad.

I don’t know how to insert videos or if you can but the lion had woke up and was roaring so loud! This lioness started roaring back too and it was incredible. This was one of them moments where everyone was amazed and I felt nothing but happiness. The giraffes walking right past us was also a ‘wow’ moment. I love giraffes and I even teared up a little seeing them so close.

Reece was in awe when we got off and agreed how special it was. Moments like that really made the stress leading up to this trip worth it.

I sent a quick text to my mum showing her the giraffes and she told me she was in the doctors. She passed her cold onto me but she had already had it for a while before I left for Orlando. Turns out hers had turned to a sinus infection and she was put on antibiotics! Luckily it cleared up after a week, just in time her her holiday to Malta!

Reece was hungry so we stopped off at a snack place and he got a croissant and I had a fruit pot.

We had a joke that all his outfit needed was a safari hat and he’d be themed perfectly. Off we went to try one on. I was very happy he didn’t buy it